The Reclamation
by Arielle1406
Summary: 8 months after New Phoenix the Chief and Blue Team find themselves on an ONI research station. After a mysterious encounter the Chief decides to abandon his post to find Cortana. Strange Slip Space events are occurring, and John begins remembering things he's never experienced. How does he face these new challenges and how will his actions affect the galaxy? Potential Halo 5 plot
1. Nightmares

**Author's Note.** I've tried to use the confirmed plot points for Halo 5 as a springboard for this fic as best as I can, but there are also some theories in here which I believe will eventually be in the Reclaimer Saga, but may not be in Halo 5 itself. Mainly though, the purpose of the fiction is to work out a couple theories of my own. My goal is to have this done before the release of the game, as I'm sure Halo 5 will end on a huge cliffhanger, will probably end totally different than I expect and will give me a whole new set of ideas I'll want to work with.

Even though this story is going to be about Halo 5 plot ideas I'll tell you upfront I'm not going to attempt to write from Fireteam Osiris' POV. I don't know enough about Agent Locke at this point to make an accurate character assessment and understand his motivations. He's still a big mystery to me, and the ONI symbol stamped on his armor makes me wary. Also, if I'm honest, I'm not really interested in him as a character yet.

I recently wrote a story called "The Inner Dialogue of Cortana" which goes over the events of Halo 4 from her perspective. It's got a couple of elements which I will be bringing into this story, so if you're interested you can check it out.

Lastly, I am a huge Halo nerd (if you couldn't already tell), so please leave comments with your thoughts and theories. I'd love to hear what you have to say. This universe is one of the most complicated I've seen and that makes so many plot threads equally plausible.

This should be fun.  
-Arielle

* * *

 **The Reclamation. Chapter 1: Nightmares**

 _"_ _Come, Warrior. Have your resolution," the Didact said angrily picking the Chief up off the light bridge. John struggled but could not move as he was caught in the Didact's gravity field. "You're a failure. You can't even save the one you care about, and you can't save yourself." John_ _struggled again, feeling powerless._ _"Humanity's imprisonment, is a kindness."_

 _"If…if…you do that, you'll be imprisoning yourself," he managed to say, gasping every word._

 _"You are an abomination and you must be eradicated."_

 _John felt the gravity field weakening. He lifted his arm up to strike back at the Didact and was surprised to see it was not his own arm, but the arm of a Forerunner._

 _"No. I am all that stands between us and the abyss. I will do what you could not." John cut the gravity field and sent the Didact flying off the bridge._

 _"Cortana!" he called._

 _John saw the nuke lying on the light bridge. The plan had been to activate it, but he remembered he could shut down the Composer. The Chief ran across the bridge and up to the main control field. He entered a series of codes and shut the Composer down, breathing a sigh of relief. Where was Cortana?_

 _"Cortana!" he called again frantically._

 _She materialized out of the light bridge. "I'm not coming with you this time," she said sadly._

 _"I shut down the Composer. You don't have to leave."_

 _"It's already done."_

 _"Cortana, please. I need you."  
_

 _"Goodbye, John."_

"Cortana!" The Chief sat up straight awake. He was sweating profusely and his heart was pounding. He blinked furiously trying to focus his eyes at his surroundings.

He was in his bunk. _It was only a dream,_ he realized. John swung his legs off the bed and put his head in his hands, massaging his temples. _The migraines are getting worse._

The Chief lifted his head to look at the holo clock on the wall which read 0300 hours. John decided to concentrate on breathing slowly to lower his heart rate. Eventually he succeeded, but it left him with a familiar ache in his chest and his mind which was so profound, it felt physical.

 _Cortana._

John rubbed his temples once more and looked over to the drawer which held his civilian clothes. Tightly wrapped inside one of his shirts lay Cortana's chip. He should have turned the chip over to UNSC for decommission but he couldn't bring himself to do that. ONI would have destroyed the chip for security reasons and he couldn't stand the idea they would dispose of it so coldly.

 _No one really understood what she actually was._

Even though the Chief hadn't disposed of the chip, he hadn't looked at it since packing it away 8 months ago.  
 _John,_ her voice echoed in his head. That was the problem with advanced memory. He could hear her voice as easily as if she were standing right there.

"Enough of this," he growled while standing up. It was clear going back to sleep would be a mistake, so he got dressed and wandered up to the main deck of Blue Team's ship the _Phoenix_.

Only a few days after the New Phoenix event Admiral Hood had assigned him to advise Blue Team on a special mission regarding the disappearance of a black Spartan IV division. He was relieved to be back in the field with his original Spartan II team. They were some of the only surviving members of the program and second to Cortana, the only people he felt comfortable with.

After their mission Admiral Hood had ordered him to take an extended leave to recuperate from the events of the past few years. John knew the Admiral had meant well, but where would he have gone and what would he have done? He had been a professional soldier since he was child and never once had he gone on extended leave. So John had blatantly disobeyed the order, (the second time to ever do such a thing) and reassigned himself to his original team.

Somewhere in his mind John had hoped that by being back with Blue Team things would return to normal and the emptiness he felt would go away.

It hadn't.

John reached the flight deck to find Linda sitting in the pilot chair.

"Chief."

"Linda."

"What's got you up?"

"Couldn't sleep."

She nodded and continued looking out window. Out of all of the team Linda was the quietest, even quieter than himself. He appreciated that about her and was grateful she didn't pry into why he was awake at such an early hour.

"What's our ETA?" he asked her.

"Arrival time estimated in 5 hours," she reported.

"Good."

There was no AI aboard the _Phoenix_ so someone was usually awake to monitor the ship. John had been relieved to discover this when he was assigned to Blue Team. He wasn't sure he could ever work with another AI, regardless of whether it was "smart" or not.

 _They'll pair you with another AI. Even another Cortana model if Halsey lets them.  
That's NOT going to happen.  
It won't be me. You know that, right?_

John shook his head as if trying to shake the memory away, and decided to go over tactical notes. Their team was scheduled to arrive at the ONI research facility in a matter of hours and he needed to be prepared.

If John were honest with himself he didn't actually need to review any notes. Besides his memory being razor sharp the mission was a fairly standard one.

The covenant faction aligned with Jul 'Mdama had sent forces to scour the abandoned facility and Blue Team was being sent in retrieve any valuable artifacts and wipe the main computer.

They would come in hot and fast by dropping into the research station from space and eliminate the Covenant forces.

John leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes briefly.

"Chief?"

"Yes Linda?"

"Might I recommend some sleep?" It was as close to a reproach as she would give him. She was right. Soldiers don't avoid problems even when they are uncomfortable.

"You're right."

She nodded.

"See you at 0800," he said.

The Chief made his way back to his quarters, and stopped briefly to look at the drawer which contained Cortana's chip. He laid back down on the firm mattress and immediately started to drift.

* * *

The clock chimed indicating it was just 30 minutes past 0700 and he was instantly awake. John had once again sweat through his clothes and he found the pain in the front of his head even more intense. He had been dreaming of something, but he couldn't say exactly what it was. He was sure it was of a place that he had never seen before standing next to the… _I need a shower,_ he grunted.

John walked down to the showers to find Kelly already there. "Chief," she acknowledged.

"Kelly."

He stripped off his clothing and let the warm water rush over him. It soothed his headache and helped him prepare for the day ahead. He'd have to get a stronger medication from the med bay but he felt the anticipation of the battle ahead. No more weird dreams, no more weird aches. It would just be him and his team.

After his shower the Chief donned the black body suit layer of his armor and stopped at the food storage facility. On a day without fighting Spartan's needed to consume 15,000 calories. Today, he would need at least 25,000. The UNSC had formulated a special powder which the Spartan's mixed with water to get the optimum mix of calories, fat and vitamins they needed. John had been eating it for almost 20 years. Once he chugged the liquid he headed down to the MJOLNIR bay where Fred and Linda were already in their rings getting their armor on. On normal ships there would be a scientist who specializes in the tech there to assist, but John and his Spartans could help each other if an issue arose. It was much more favorable to be completely solitary.

"Chief," Fred acknowledged as he flipped upside down. "Ready to snipe some Covies Linda?"

"Bet your ass I am."

The Chief stepped into the ring which scanned his identity. "Spartan 117 recognized. Initializing armor," the system croaked. The system set about screwing in the different pieces and turning him around. The last was to go on was his helmet. He looked at the system check which showed everything working. John instinctively put his hand up to the back of his helmet to touch the chip slot. His mind felt so _empty._

 _Ready to show a girl a good time?_

 _Always trying to provoke me._

 _Chief. Somebody's got to make sure you don't take yourself too seriously._

She was right about that.

He stepped out of the ring and Fred immediately came up to inspect his armor. It was a custom among Spartan II's. Nothing was as good as a Spartan's observational skills, and they always made sure everything was in perfect working condition before starting out on a mission.

"You're good Chief."

"Everyone ready?" he asked. They all flicked their HUD lights on in acknowledgement. "Estimate we have approximately 15 minutes until we're in range of the station. Our job is to get in, get the intel we need and get out. Everyone's going to take their standard positions. Any questions?"

All were silent.

"Good. Kelly, bring us in and put the ship into a high orbit above the station for drop in. I'll join up on the command deck shortly." She acknowledged his order and turned to leave.

The Chief quickly made his way up to the medical bay and injected a powerful pain medication serum into his suit. He needed to be focused on the task ahead, and the pain had gotten to a point where light was difficult to look at. After shaking off the initial dizziness he felt the medicine take effect and he felt ready.

"Exiting slip space in 2 minutes," Kelly announced over the coms. John jogged up to the flight deck so he could see what their surroundings would look like before they dropped in.

Kelly exited Slip Space dangerously close to the station. "Hang on!"

She pulled back on the controls as hard as possible, so the ship was parallel with the station as it flew upward. The logic behind this was to keep the enemy from using long range scanners. The amount of debris floating close to the station would make the ship harder to track by short range scanners. Kelly leveled out The _Phoenix_ and placed it in a high orbit above the station.

"Well," she said turning to John, "that was fun."

John swiped the smile gesture across his helmet.

Out of everyone, Kelly seemed the most in touch with her emotions. When they were very young she had resisted the idea of becoming a Spartan and spent much of their childhood fighting with their teachers. John recalled when she dyed her hair blue just to make them angry. Back then he had regarded her stubbornness as a weakness, but now he was glad she had retained her fire. It was what made Kelly…Kelly.

Both he and Kelly walked down to the cargo bay and picked their weapons of choice. For the Chief it had always been the Assault Rifle, Kelly preferred a Magnum, Fred usually had an DMR and Linda the Sniper Rifle.

"Are we ready for drop?" the Chief asked. All the team's acknowledgment lights flicked on. "Good. Let's go. Linda, open the doors."


	2. Daydreams

**The Reclamation. Chapter 2: Daydreams**

Using their jet packs Blue Team sped towards the top of the ONI research station, guns pointed down.

"10 seconds until impact," Kelly reported _._

"The Covenant won't be expecting us," Fred said with a small amount of satisfaction in his voice.  
"4…3…2…"

Blue team broke the glass and landed on the floor with a large thud. An Elite screamed as he was sucked out by the vacuum, but Blue Team hardly acknowledged his presence. There were more pressing matters.

"Eyes sharp. Kelly, scout ahead."

"Rodger that."

The Chief brought his Assault Rifle up and turned on his head light. The research facility was dark, and for some reason it felt ominous. _  
_

_Chief, be careful._

"We're all clear Chief," Kelly reported. "Looks like most of the action will be below deck."

"There's a shaft just up ahead which will take us to the bottom floor," Fred said.

Blue Team moved together toward the target and Linda pried open the doors.

"I'm detecting multiple enemies on this deck," Kelly reported once they had all gotten down the shaft.

"Linda, as soon as we enter look for a place you can snipe, Fred to left, Kelly prepare to draw fire."

"Understood Chief."

"Open it."

As soon as the door opened Blue Team split apart. Kelly ran fast down the middle causing two jackals and several grunts to open fire. Using his Assault Rifle Chief barreled down the grunts while running to the side. A shot whizzed past taking out a Jackal. _Linda must have found her spot._

"Fire in the hole!" Fred threw a grenade to John's left causing an explosion and taking out two Elites in the process.

John's sensors picked up an enemy behind him so he ducked around a large crate and stood up to fire when it was in range. The Elite snarled and pointed its Carbine rifle at John. He ducked again putting his Assault Rifle on his back and pulling the Magnum. A close shot would be more effective. John stood up and pointed the gun directly at its head. The first shot took off a mandible, the second caused the Elite to stumble back and the third put him on the ground. John shook his head. _If they still made those Pistols I could have killed him in one shot._

John heard two Needlers go off to his left so he spun to the right, placing the Magnum on his hip and reaching for the Assault Rifle. By the time he made one full rotation he was in optimum firing position. John aimed for the small hole in the Jackal shield and took it out, purple blood spattering on a nearby crate.

Kelly whizzed past him and slipped behind the other Jackal, killing it with her knife. Without stopping she charged an Elite which began to fire a Storm Rifle. She rolled into a somersault to avoid the blast, sheathing her knife and taking out her pistol mid roll. She fired, springing upward and knocking the Elite down. Before the Elite could react she placed the Mangum on its throat and fired at point blank range, killing it instantly.

Though the Chief had known Kelly for Forty years she never ceased to amaze him.

"Suicides!" Fred called behind him.

John spun around. Fred had used his Jetpack to back up to the Chief's position. He and John unclipped grenades and threw them at the pack of Grunts who were running in a frenzy. The explosion created a chain reaction setting off their Plasma Grenades and the grenades of three Elites who were somewhat close to them. Brilliant blue energy bolted upward lighting the large warehouse area. John settled into a crouch until the energy dissipated.

"Clear!" Linda called.

"Picking up a weird energy disturbance Chief," Kelly called.

"Show me."

Some numbers scrolled across his HUD. John recognized the pattern and said, "It's Forerunner tech. Stay sharp."

The Chief walked slowly forward toward the indication on his HUD. Behind a large stack of crates was a large spherical Forerunner device which was glowing orange and hovering just above the ground. He stepped up to it, carefully inspecting the writing which was scrolling on the side.

 _There were only two of these ever made. Where did ONI find it?_

"What is that?" Kelly asked.

"It's Orbis Signifer," the Chief said continuing to stare at the object.

"How do you know?" Fred asked.

John looked at his team in surprise. "It's scrolling on the side," he said pointing.

"Chief?" Kelly said quietly.

"What is it?"

" It's…not written in English."

"What?"

"It's…look."

John looked at the Orbis again, blinking furiously. For a moment the letters turned back into unrecognizable Forerunner glyphs, but the moment passed and he found he could still read it. John felt a crack of lightning surge through his temples. _What's happening to me?_

John reached with his fingers to touch the control panel and without thinking he pressed a few buttons (the equivalent to a password) and the sphere began to rumble.

"Chief? What did you just do?" Linda whispered.

"I…I don't know," he said truthfully.

The sphere continued to rumble as it shrunk and collapsed on the ground, now inert and about the size of John's fist. Immediately the lights came on in the facility, revealing several burnt bodies which lay strewn on the ground.

"What was ONI doing here?" Kelly wondered.

"We don't ask," John said picking up the Forerunner object and attaching it to his hip. He saw something shimmer past Fred.

"Weapons! We've got Invisibles," the Chief cried while he fired. He saw a sword near Linda.

"10:00 Linda!" She turned, ducked under the sword and stabbed the Elite with a knife where she knew its throat would be. John heard the Elite say something just before he died.

"He's called for back up!" Fred yelled.

John saw multiple enemies come on his Head's Up Display.

"Fred! Cover me while I climb up to the scaffolding!" Linda said.

John ran for cover, shooting an Elite in a gold uniform. It dodged his attack while continuing to fire it's Carbine Rifle. John ducked, then popped up continuing to fire. He tracked it with the Assault Rifle. Gold's were notoriously difficult to kill. The Chief crouched again and unclipped a grenade. He threw it and successfully tagged the Elite on the chest. The Elite tried to brush the grenade off of himself, but it was too late. The explosion took out him and two Grunts which had been providing backup.

"Hunters!" Kelly called. She ran as fast as she could towards the one closest to her and John followed in pursuit. He ran toward the Hunter and went into a slide so he could get behind it to shoot the exposed flesh on its backside. John came to a halt over a metal grate and he began to shoot upward. The beast turned and attempted to stomp on him with it's massive foot. John rolled away, but not before the grate he was on broke with the force of the Hunter's weight causing him and it to tumble to a cavern below.

"Chief!" He heard Kelly call in the distance.

* * *

John woke up and found himself laying in darkness. He blinked furiously. _Where am I?_ He wondered. He stood up and found he was in a tunnel. _How long was I out?_

"Blue Team do you copy?" No response. "Blue Team does anyone read?" Quietly he began to move through the tunnel keeping his weapon up. Where were the rest of the Covenant? _They could be anywhere,_ he thought.

Suddenly John heard a smooth voice calling to him. "Chief…"

John picked up the pace as he continued to explore the tunnel.

"Chief…"

As he moved forward the tunnel opened to a rocky outside area and he saw a dull blue light coming from the center. _Cortana's chip._

He moved toward it almost sacredly. _Could it be…_.John reached down slowly, gently brushing it with the tips of his fingers but as soon as he made contact, it disappeared.

 _This isn't real,_ he realized. John looked up and saw a large moon with stars and clouds in the sky. _If this isn't real, then what's..._

And then he saw her. She stood with his back toward him, her figure outlined by the moon. His heart began to race and he soon forgot what he had been thinking.

"Cortana," he said softly, his voice carrying his grief as well as his longing for her companionship.

"John."

"Where have you been?" his voice choked. "Things are happening…." He stopped. "This...this isn't real," he tried to remind himself.

John," she said. "The Domain is open. Meridian is next. You only have 3 days. Please hurry. The Reclamation is about to begin." Clouds covered her figure from view and he could no longer see her.

"Cortana!" he called.

A creature materialized in front of him and he collapsed, bracing himself with his fist.

"This isn't real," he tried telling himself again.

"Chief what's wrong?" The creature asked with her voice. _  
_

_Cortana._

His vision began to flicker and faded outward. He felt himself being pulled along until he was standing on a Forerunner ship suited in green and black armor. The armor was his, but it wasn't MJOLNIR.

"I need access to the Domain," he said in a voice which wasn't entirely his own.

"Systems are not responding," chirped an AI somewhere in the back of his mind.

"And why not?"

"Something is preventing us. All of us. No one can access it."

"Do you what it is?"

 _Chief!  
Chief wake up!  
Chief!_

Someone was calling him and it sounded urgent. _Cortana?_ No. It sounded like _…Kelly!_

John's mind cleared and he found himself laying on top of the grate with orange blood splattered all over his armor. He coughed. "What happened?"

"You collapsed and nearly got yourself killed."

John sat up and shook his head, feeling disorientated. He hadn't actually fallen anywhere. "What's our status?"

"Targets eliminated," Fred reported.

"Let's get the data we need and head out."

"Affirmative sir. Main console's this way."

John got up and followed Blue Team to the console.

Kelly began to tap on her data pad. "I'm going to download the information and wipe the system," she said.

"Good."

"Done," Kelly reported.

"Let's head out and get back to the ship."

As Blue Team began to make their way to the upper deck John tried to think about what he had seen.

 _Cortana._

Could she have somehow survived the New Phoenix event? _No,_ he tried telling himself. _Most of her was with the Didact's ship, but a part of her was in the light bridge. With me, and I watched the bridge dissipate._

The team had reached the top level of the facility where they had entered the station.

"Prepare to engage boosters," John said. His team's lights flickered in acknowledgment. "3..2..1..mark." Together the team left behind the station and flew upwards, adjusting their packs so they could steer themselves toward the ship.

"Linda, activate the bay doors," the Chief said as they got close.

After they were inside and the doors were closed John turned toward his team and said, "We're all clear Blue Team. I need to-" the Chief was cut off by the ship lurching violently. An alarm managed to go off before the ship completely lost power.

"What was that?" Fred looked at the Chief wide eyed. The Spartans sprinted to the upper deck.

Kelly reached the controls first and sat down, while the rest of the team tried to understand what they were seeing outside the window. Less than a hundred meters from the _Phoenix_ was a white _anomaly_ (which was the only word for it) with what looked like white streams of light spreading out from its center.

"Chief. The computer is saying this is a…Slip Space rupture," Kelly said.

"It doesn't look like Slip Space," Fred countered.

"I agree, but…"

A burst of white energy radiated out from the center and moved through the hull leaving in its wake a large creature standing directly in front of the Chief. John stood completely still. Somehow he knew the presence was angry, even though it didn't speak.

"I know who you are," he growled. "Do you know who I am?" Instinctively John reached down to his side and held up the Orbis.

A sound similar to nails on a chalkboard erupted from its mouth. Kelly whipped out her pistol and shot it, causing the creature to vaporize. The anomaly outside began to collapse on itself until it was gone, leaving nothing but black space. The ship powered back up.

"What…what was that?" Fred breathed.

"I don't know," the Chief said looking down at the Orbis.

"You said you did," Linda spoke quietly.

"I…" The Chief paused. He felt sick. "I need to report to Osman. Kelly stay at the controls in case there is another incident." she nodded.

John walked off the deck and went to the main conference room feeling troubled. Too much had happened in a short amount of time for everything to be a coincidence.

John put in the appropriate code and waited for the signal to connect.

"Master Chief."

"Admiral Osman Ma'am," he saluted.

"Have you completed your mission?" her tone was harsh.

"Yes Ma'am."

"Good. Report!"

The Master Chief began to tell the Admiral of what they had encountered in the station, including the charred bodies. Immediately John felt his headache return with a strong feeling not to tell the Admiral about how he had been able to read Forerunner glyphs and how he punched in the code to deactivate the Orbis.

He paused, then said, "I saw the Forerunner glyphs on the sphere. They seemed to work similarly to a system on Requiem so I was able to shut down the artifact." He saw Osman arch her eyebrow, but she made no comment.

"After securing the bay area," he continued, "we downloaded the information from the terminal and wiped the data."

"Did you see the information?"

"No Ma'am."

She nodded sharply. "And the artifact?"

"It's here, Ma'am," said the Chief as he unhooked it from his belt and showed it to her.

"Good. Anything else?"

"Yes." John carefully explained the Slip Space anomaly they had just encountered.  
Osman frowned and said, "We've been getting reports of these Slip Space anomalies coming from the outer colonies. You have new orders Chief. Proceed to the _Infinity_ at once so you can drop off this artifact. Once you are there report to me immediately. Is that understood solder?"

"Yes Ma'am."

She looked at him, frowned again and said, "Osman out." She terminated the signal leaving John standing there looking at the screen.

The Chief rolled his shoulders. Something about Osman was disconcerting. She seemed familiar, and she always seemed angry. He radioed in to the other Spartans about their orders and began walking to his quarters.

ETA to _Infinity_ was three hours.


	3. A Message

**The Reclamation. Chapter 3: A Message**

John closed the door to his quarters and looked once more at the drawer which contained Cortana's chip. In his vision it had been intact. _What if…_

He walked over and took out the shirt which he had wrapped the chip in for safe keeping. Sitting on a chair he looked down at the shirt and slowly began to unfold it.

The chip was as damaged as it had been 8 months ago.

John reached down and gingerly picked it up in his hands. All of a sudden the chip turned blue and Cortana's avatar came to life.

His heart began to beat faster. "Cortana?" he asked quietly.

"Chief, if you're getting this message, I didn't make it."

His momentary hope wisped away. She was still gone.

She looked down at her feet and then back up again. "While we were on Requiem the Librarian told me something really important. The Mantle of Responsibility has to be found, and she has chosen you to be the one to find it. I believe this is why she altered your bio chemistry because there needs to be a specific set of genetic codes to access it properly. I don't know what The Mantel is Chief but the Librarian hinted at something. Something from the distant past may be coming."

Cortana hesitated and said, "from what the Librarian told me whoever they are…they can manipulate Slip Space. I think this is urgent. You have to find The Mantle before anyone else.

Chief, you need to go back to the Ark and speak with Mendicant Bias, the AI who is in exile there. He is one of the few who can help you in your new mission. The Librarian said it would be exponentially more difficult to find The Mantle without his help."

She paused looking sadder than he had ever seen her. "John…I'm sorry for everything that's happened. I'm sorry I can't go with you. There's so much I wish I could tell you, so much which has been left unsaid. I wish…" she stopped. "Good luck."

The message ended and left John feeling raw. _Cortana._ Hearing her voice again…he leaned back and closed his eyes, attempting to rid himself of the feelings seeing her invoked.

 _When did she leave this message for me?_ He wondered.

The Chief sat there silently brushing his thumb over Cortana's chip. He needed to think about what he was going to do. Cortana had given him a mission, but how to complete it?

 _What does the Mantle have to do with what I saw on the research station? That couldn't have been Cortana, so what was it?_ Perhaps it was the Domain itself trying to communicate with him using Cortana's image. He frowned. _Mendicant Bias would know. I need to find him first._

John stood up and took Cortana's chip with him. He needed to tell the team what was happening. "Blue Team, meet me in the conference room in ten minutes. Chief out."

True to Spartan efficiency Blue Team was gathered in the conference room in 6 minutes. They all were wearing their armor, but chose to remove their helmets for this particular meeting.

The Chief looked around the room at his Spartans. He suddenly felt nervous about sharing with Blue Team Cortana's message. She was a subject he rarely talked about because even _thinking_ about her made him feel vulnerable.

He inhaled and said, "As you know, 8 months ago Cortana and I were on Requiem where I encountered an AI which housed the Librarian's memories. What you don't know is that Cortana also spoke with the Librarian. I have her chip," he said, gingerly opening up his palm. "And she left me a message detailing their conversation."

"When did you get this message?" Linda asked.

"Just now."

"Can you play it for us Chief?" Fred asked.

John touched the chip, but nothing happened.

"Can I see?" Kelly asked softly.

John reluctantly looked down at the chip and gently passed it to Kelly. Using her data pad she scanned the chip.

"Looks like that data is still there but it doesn't have enough power." She tapped a few buttons which made the chip begin to faintly glow blue. "Hmm…okay, it should be playing now, but for some reason it still won't activate."

"I think it's encoded for me," John said holding his hand out for the chip. He touched it so the message would activate. Her image burst to life and he set the chip down on the table and watched it play once more.

 _Cortana._

"….John…I'm sorry for everything that's happened. I'm sorry I can't go with you. There's so much I wish I could tell you, so much which has been left unsaid. I wish…good luck." Kelly looked sharply up at John at hearing Cortana's last words, but said nothing to him. _  
_

The Spartan's were silent for a time until Fred spoke. "From what Cortana said, those Slip Space anomalies could be what the Librarian was trying to warn us about. We're about an hour away from _Infinity._ Will you tell Osman what we've discovered Chief?"

John frowned. Something was telling him he couldn't waste time and that he needed to find Mendicant Bias as soon as possible. He pushed the feeling aside. Depending on what waited for them on the Ark, they could encounter hostile Foreunner AI's, or even worse, a Forerunner. They should bring backup with them.

He nodded at Fred. "She can't know I have Cortana's chip," Chief said picking it up off the table.

"I understand Chief," Fred said softly.

"How will we inform Osman of this new intel Cortana provided us?" Linda asked. "They will still want to know where it came from."

"I'll handle that," the Chief said.

Linda looked at him, then gave him a sharp nod.

"We need to resupply as well," Kelly pointed out.

"I will take inventory of the weapons," Chief said. "The rest of you do a supply check for food, water and if The _Phoenix_ needs to be serviced. We might be getting into some serious fire fights. They all nodded and John breathed. "Good. Dismissed."

John made his way down to the weapons bay, still holding onto Cortana's chip. He looked down at it once more, realizing he had no intention of putting it back in his quarters. Instead he took the chain from an old service tag and carefully threaded it around her chip. Normally he would have put it on the same chain as his dog tag, but his armor was in the way. He looked down and remembered there was a small compartment on the front left of the MJOLNIR chest piece which housed an emergency access system to the armor. The chip would fit in there, and it would be secure.

After putting it away John got up and took out several boxes of rounds and began to do inventory. He soon lost track of time and was surprised to see Kelly standing in front of him.

"Kelly," he said abruptly.

"Chief." She stood there for a moment. "Food rations all counted. I know what we'll need to get from the _Infinity_ S deck."

"Good."

She paused for a moment longer and then said, "Figured you could use some help."

John didn't really need any help, but he knew this was Kelly's way of initiating a conversation when something was on her mind. "Have a seat," he said.

Kelly sat down next to him with her data pad. They continued to labor in silence for a time until Kelly looked up at him. "So what did you do with Cortana's chip?"

John's fingers slipped slightly at the mention of Cortana. He paused, wondering if the truth would make him look vulnerable. Then he looked at Kelly and realized if he lied she would know, so he took out the chip from his armor and showed her.

She nodded.

"I miss her," John said suddenly, looking at the chip.

Kelly said nothing, but as she got up to get more ammo cases she bumped her shoulder ever so slightly with his own. Kelly never moved accidentally so it was a purposeful gesture indicating she on some level understood and didn't judge him. The Chief was grateful for that. He put Cortana's chip away.

"Looks like we'll have to get about ten more ammo cases for the Magnum," she said.

"More Assault rounds as well."

"I can take care of this while you meet with Lasky."

"Thank you Kelly," he said, meaning it in more than one way.

She nodded.

"ETA 2 minutes until Rendezvous with _Infinity_ ," Linda announced over the coms. Chief and Kelly stood up and began to secure all of the weapons, and then put on their helmets.

"Exiting Slip Space. Chief I'm patching you to the Bridge."

"This is Sierra 117 to _Infinity_ CIC. Blue Team requesting permission to dock."

"Rodger that Blue Team," Lasky replied over the coms. "Permission granted. Stand by for AI landing sequence takeover." The ship lurched ever so slightly.

"Take over successful. We'll see you in a jiffy," Roland said into his ear piece.

A few minutes later Linda and Fred joined them in the cargo bay and they felt the ship slow and land. The doors opened revealing Captain Lasky and Commander Palmer waiting for them. Palmer saluted first, Blue team returned the salute to her and turned to salute the Captain.

"Master Chief, Blue Team, we're glad you're aboard," Lasky said with a slight smile. "We've got a team standing by to service your ship and retrieve any supplies you may need."

"Thank you Captain," the Chief said walking up to him. "My team has a supply manifold of everything we need, so they can accompany your men." Lasky nodded to some dock workers who immediately began to inspect the ship.

"Chief, radio when you need us," Fred said before Blue Team dispersed.

"It's good to see you again Chief," Lasky said meaningfully as they began to walk.

"Likewise Captain."

"Chief I've got S Deck on standby if you or your team wish to have your armor serviced," Palmer said.

"Thank you, Commander." She nodded, and placed her hands behind her back.

"Osman says you've recovered a Forerunner artifact," Lasky said.

"In part. This was on an abandoned ONI research station," John said unhooking the small spherical object and showing them.

"An ONI research station?" Palmer asked, exchanging a sideways glace with the Captain.

"Affirmative."

"Do we know what it is?" Lasky looked worried.

"It's an Orbis Signifer," Chief replied as they stepped into a bullet car.

"A what?" Palmer asked.

John paused, trying to remember the specifics. "They have several purposes, but its main function serves as a ground CIC. It can also link with Forerunner defense systems like War Sphinx's, small gunships, Guardians."

"Guardians?" Lasky and Palmer exchanged glances once more. "Admiral Osman has been working on locating one of those ever since we discovered a Forerunner artifact describing one. Chief, have you discovered anything else about this…Orbis Signifer or Guardians?"

John thought again, but he couldn't pull any more information from his mind. "No," he said, realizing he shouldn't know anything about the Orbis at all.

As the bullet car sped through the tunnel John felt his vision blur. He blinked and saw the car sped right past Cortana. He turned sharply.

"Chief? Everything all right?" Lasky asked him.  
John shook himself. "Fine Captain. How much further to the research deck?"

"It's just up here."

* * *

 **Authors Note.**

Thanks to everyone who is following my story and has given feedback. I really appreciate it!

I've been listening to some of the Halo 5 soundtrack (which has recently popped up on YouTube) during the writing/editing process and have been really struck by the somber tone of the music. Search Halo 5 OST and look for videos around 15 minutes if you're curious and want to have a listen. I can't wait to hear the rest of the music for Halo 5.

Rory: You are absolutely right. Fred's load out shouldn't be the SMG, it should be the DMR. I corrected it as soon as I got your message. Thanks for pointing it out to me as that was a total DUH moment.

WalterMittyEsq: Thanks for the encouragement on both the chapters.

Guest: :-D. Bravo for being the first to guess that particular theory!


	4. Going AWOL

**The Reclamation. Chapter 4: Going AWOL**

After delivering the Orbis Signifer to Glassman Chief silently walked next to Lasky, who looked like he had a great many things on his mind.

"Sir, I'll need a secure location to report to Admiral Osman."

"Of course, Chief. There is a conference room just up this hallway you can use." He paused and said, "If you find you will be with us awhile, Commander Palmer and I have set aside quarters you and Blue Team can use on S deck. They've been outfitted to accommodate your Spartan class."

"Thank you Captain."

He nodded, then held his arm out indicating they had arrived. "Secure line is just in here. Roland will contact me if you need anything else." John nodded at Lasky then stepped inside.

He walked up to the screen, entered the code, and waited. When it connected and revealed Osman's office, John was surprised to see not Osman on the other side, but a dark blue cube floating above the desk.

"Master Chief."

"And you are?"

"Names are irrelevant, a human invention, which any self-respecting AI would do without."

"I see."

"I doubt you do, but it that matters little. However, if you must refer to me, you may call me BB. Admiral Osman is in a meeting, but wishes you to stay where you are so she may debrief you as soon as time allows."

The Chief found it odd an AI would answer a standard report in, and odder still was that this AI appeared to be smart. "You the Admiral's assistant I take," John said.

Its dark blue hue became even darker as it said, "I am many things, but personal assistant is not one of them. I am merely conveying this information because we are on a time schedule and it is efficient."

"I apologize for the offense."

"I cannot be offended be because Offence is a human emotion. I only wish to correct your error."

John seriously doubted that, but he let it go not wishing to speak to the AI any longer. "I will wait," he said.

"Good." The screen went blank.

The Chief stood at attention, and waited.

After a few minutes the screen flickered, and words began to scroll across it.

 _Chief. It's me.  
_

He stopped. "Cortana?"

 _You have to leave John. You have to go right now and stop them before it's too late. They...  
_

The words got cut off and the screen went black. "Where are you?" he asked. "Tell me how to find you."

"John." The Chief jolted as he heard Cortana's voice calling to him. They're coming and no one will be able to stop them. You have to go Chief. You have to go to Meridian."

"Cortana."

"Hurry John," her voice echoed. "Don't trust Osman Chief," she whispered.

John formed a fist and placed it behind his back, staring out the window.

 _Don't trust Osman?_ The Chief wondered what Cortana could mean by that.

 _What am I doing?_ He thought. _What if she's alive?_ He took the chip out of his armor and stared at it, brushing his finger over the top.

The thought stuck with him. _What if she's alive? Trapped somewhere and trying to communicate with me? If there's even a chance, I have to take it._

He promised he would take care of her, and he intended to keep that promise. _They'll never let me go after her,_ he realized. She had sacrificed everything for him, and now it was his turn. He wouldn't rest until he figured out the truth.

John quickly strode out of the conference room and began to walk down the hallway. He would need to retrieve his equipment and then get off _Infinity_ as soon as possible. _What about my team?_ The Chief knew he would have to leave them behind. He couldn't ask them to disobey direct orders and risk being dishonorably discharged or court marshaled. _This is my mission._

John stepped into the bullet car. "Deck 25," he croaked. _I should have gone to the Ark as soon as Cortana told me to. I've wasted precious time._

"I'm coming Cortana," he said out loud, hoping she could hear him. "I promise."

John got off the bullet car and made his way to Dr. Glassman's lab. The Orbis was still activated and floating in a containment field while several machines ran tests.

"Master Chief," Dr. Glassman said surprised.

"Change of plans Doctor. I'm going to need the Orbis Signifer back."

"Uhh...I'm sorry, Chief. But uh, the program is scheduled to run for another four hours and it's in containment," he said nervously.

"So shut it down."

"I can't."

John looked at him silently for a moment. "I'm sorry Doctor." John reached out his hand toward the sphere, closed his eyes and called it with his mind. The Orbis shook, compressed and shattered several glass panels as it flew towards him. John caught it and stuck it to his armor.

"How did you do that?" Glassman asked shocked.

John wasn't completely sure, but he couldn't be bothered with thinking about that right now. He left Dr. Glassman standing in shock as alarms went off.

The Chief entered the bullet car once again and told it to take him to ship bay. He hoped the _Phoenix_ was stocked and ready to go, as he would need the supplies. As soon as he entered the hanger bay he found Captain Lasky waiting for him.

"Chief! Please don't this," Lasky said jogging at his side while John strode.

"I'm sorry Captain, but I have to."

"I think I know what this is about."

"Then you know I have no choice."

"Chief, listen. We've been getting reports of…."

John stopped and looked down at Lasky. Worry laced the Captain's face.

John placed a hand on Lasky's shoulder in an attempt to reassure him and said, "I know what I'm doing." He lifted his hand and continued to walk away. The Chief found Blue Team waiting for him at the entrance of the _Phoenix_.

"All of you will stay here," he said, his tone taking a harsh edge.

"Like hell we are," Linda shot back.

"This is something I have to do, but I won't risk your careers and your lives because of it. I need to go alone."

"With no backup? Absolutely not. We're coming with you," Fred said.

"We're with you Chief," Kelly said quietly. "Family sticks together."

John stared at all of them and realized Blue Team wasn't going to let him go alone. "Get in," he said finally.

The bay doors closed, and Roland appeared in the Chief's HUD. "I could stop you."

"Let them go Roland," Lasky said over the coms.

"Sir?"

"That's an order Roland."

"Fine. But, between you and me," Roland said to John, "I spoke with Cortana before you both left. And you know what she said to me?" John remained silent. "She told me that Lasky was a good man and I needed to watch his back. You're putting him in a terrible position where…he could get in a lot of trouble, so…."

"I know."

"Then I hope you know what you're doing," Roland said before he disappeared.

 _I have to find her._

The ship disengaged from _Infinity._ "Where are we headed?" Kelly asked.

"Meriden," Chief replied. "We don't have much time." Kelly turned to head up to the flight deck. "Wait." she stopped.

John looked at Blue Team and said, "thank you."

They nodded but otherwise made no responses. Kelly left and went up to the flight deck.

"It's a short jump to Meridian from here," Linda said while packing up her Sniper Rifle.

"The planet was glassed by the Covenant towards the beginning of the war. Why is it so important Chief?" Fred asked.

"I don't know," John said.

"I've cut off all communications with the UNSC and disabled our broadcast signal. We're officially off the grid. SlipSpace jump in 3…2…1…mark," Kelly announced over coms.

John walked up to the Command deck and sat down next to Kelly. He closed his eyes and leaned back, feeling dizzy and tired. It felt as if his mind was unraveling. So much was happening he couldn't make sense of. Were these strange memories of Forerunner technology because of Cortana? _No._ Since he first landed on Alpha Halo Forerunner technology had always seemed familiar to him. But why that feeling was getting more intense, he couldn't say.

 _Cortana._ Was he chasing a ghost?

"Chief?"

"What is it Kelly?"

"We'll be exiting Slip Space in about 5 minutes."

"Fred, Linda, strap in. Things could get bumpy."

John tapped on the coms button to see if he could pick up any chatter and get a read on the situation. It was coming up completely blank. "I'm not getting any radio chatter," he said to Kelly. "Nothing. It's almost as if…everything has gone dark."

"That can't be good."

"Fred, Linda, we may be flying into a hostile situation."

"Rodger Chief."

"Prepare to exit Slip Space," Kelly said as she powered down the engines. As Meridian came into view they saw a large Covenant ship in orbit around the planet. "Damn," Kelly said under her breath.

"We need to find out if particular vessel belongs to the Swords of Sanghelios or the Reformed Covenant," the Chief said.

"I'm detecting fighters launching, Chief," Kelly said as a shot went across the bow of their ship.

"I think that answers our question," he said wryly.

"Doing evasive maneuvers." Kelly took the controls and with her lightning fast reflexes began to fly the ship away from danger. He took control of the ships weapons and began to fire at the targets.

"Hang on!" Kelly slammed on the controls and barrel rolled the ship to the left in order to avoid a Covenant fighter.

The Chief adjusted the weapons and took it out. _We need to land the ship immediately,_ the Chief thought. He looked at the data coming from the computer about the planet and saw where the Covenant had decided to land.

His mind cracked and a vision flicked. _T_ _here's a Guardian here,_ he realized. _The Covenant have no idea what the Guardian's true purpose is or how to use it._ "Kelly, route us to where the Covenant have landed on the planet."

"It's going to get bumpy," she said as she changed course.

"I know. Fred, Linda, get to the escape pods and prepare for drop on my mark." He saw their acknowledgments flicker on. To Kelly he said, "How…"

"…Long? Figure we can get to 5,000 kilometers above our target before we get blasted."

"Good enough. Kelly I'll take the controls. Get to the escape pods."

"Like hell. I can get us closer and you know it."

John remained silent. She was right of course, but he couldn't help but worry about his team. Though Kelly continued to weave through the Covenant with impressive speed, the ship was taking on damage. It was impossible to avoid getting hit with this many fighters. John looked at the screen.

"Kelly…."

"Almost there," she said pulling the ship up and flying across the top of the Covenant Cruiser. The Chief targeted a turret and fired. It was destroyed, but not before it managed to get a hit off.

"Weapons down."

Kelly cleared the Covenant ship and began to race towards the planet.

"Engines Failing," she reported as an alarm sounded on the ship. "Time to go."

"Fred. Linda, eject. We'll see you down on the planet." Their acknowledgment lights flickered on. He and Kelly ran through the ship.

"Here's the first escape pod. Get in."

"Chief I—"

"Go!" She nodded her head than got in.

The ship lurched, and John knew there was only a matter of moments before it was going to come apart. He climbed into the next pod, made sure the Orbis was secure and ejected. "Seventeen seconds until impact," The automated voice said. John waited.

 _4…3…2…1…_ The pod slammed into the planet's surface with a sickening thud causing the Chief to jolt forward. Emergency lights flickered.

"Kelly, Fred, Linda, Report!"

"I'm here," Kelly said out of breath.

"I am too."

John waited for Linda to respond. "Linda?" There was still nothing. John felt his vitals spike. He couldn't afford to lose anyone else. "Linda!"

"I'm here, Chief." She said slowly. "Just passed out momentarily."

"Are you hurt?"

"Negative."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Make your way to my location as soon as you can. Chief out."

John kicked open the door to his pod, took the weapon which was stored in it and stepped onto the planet. The winds whipped as he looked over the expanse. Molten earth which had hardened into glass stuck out in large jagged shards at odd angles. Even in his suit, getting across the terrain would be time consuming.

The Chief activated the Orbis Signifer and asked it to scan for a Guardian. It blinked, then showed him the exact location and that the systems were on standby. _Standby? How did they turn on from being inert all these years?_

The Orbis asked if he wished to activate its defense systems. _No,_ and he told it to go on lock down. No one but himself would be allowed to have access. He transferred the coordinates of the Guardian to his HUD display and deactivated the Orbis.

He saw Fred first, and Linda next. Kelly was the last to arrive as her pod had fallen the furthest away.

"Let's go," he called. "We have a lot of ground to cover. The Guardian is 2500 kilometers NW of our position." He transferred to Coordinates to the rest of his team, and they began to move.

"Covenant converging on our position Chief," Fred said.

John saw a Wraith tank come over a hill, shattering the molten glass earth in the process. Behind it were two ghosts, and a group of Elites, Jackals with a combination of Needlers and Beam Rifles, and thirty or so Grunts. He and Fred looked at each other, and Fred swiped the smile gesture across his helmet. Fred took off to the left, John to the right.

As the Wraith began to shoot, John and Fred began to zigzag sides while Kelly dashed to the far left, intending to come around back of the group. A shot went off behind them as Linda sniped the Jackals. John and Fred continued to run toward the tank. One of them could kill it, but their goal was to capture the tank. If they could manage it, breaking through the Covenant forces would be a lot easier. Fred would go for the gunner and he would pull the driver. Fred reached the tank first and leaped up the side. While the gunner was distracted John opened the tank's main door and shot the driver. He pulled the body out, then immediately jumped in. There was always another Covenant in the tanks.

He spotted a grunt who saw him, screamed and said, "why didn't I just stay home? De…" the Chief shot him dead.

"Fred. Status?"

"All secure Chief."

"Kelly, Linda, we've secured the tank."

"Rodger Chief, I'm on a Ghost," Kelly reported.

"I'm right behind you." Linda said. John waited until he saw Fred get into the tank with him and sit down at the controls.

"Piece of junk," Fred commented. The Chief nodded. Though some weapons the Covenant made were superior to the UNSC, this was not one of them. The main gun took too long to fire, and they were a pain to drive. Still, it was better than going on foot.

John began to drive.

"Bad News Chief. Main gun only has about 10 shots left," Fred reported.

"Linda what's the status of the turret?"

"Same Chief, it's nearly empty."

"Ghost's energy is low as well. We only just got here, why the weapons are nearly drained?"

"Stay sharp."

"Three Wraith Tanks 9:00. I'll see if I can get one to chase me," Kelly said. John watched her ghost veer to the left. He drove the Wraith at an angle and Fred began to fire the main gun. The Wraith lurched as it took a hit from one of the tanks.

"Keep firing on the one to right Fred."

"Got the gunner on the left Chief," Linda said.

John looked at the sensors. Kelly had managed to take out one of the Wraith tanks with her ghosts. Their tank took another hit.

"Target destroyed," Fred said. "We have about three shots left."

Kelly whizzed the Ghost around the back of their tank and came for another pass. John reversed to avoid a blast of energy and Fred fired the remaining two shots.

"Got it," Fred said.

"Ghost on your 6," Kelly said.

"Linda?"

"On it Chief."

Though the Ghost wasn't as powerful, it was quick and could get off more shots.

"The back left side of the Wraith's hull is breached Chief," Fred told him.  
"Grenade!" Linda shouted.

John leaped up, opened the hatched and pulled Fred out just as the Grenade went off. They both flew back off tank, causing their shields to drop to zero.

John and Fred stood up to see more Covenant forces coming towards them, but he bulk of the Covenant forces were in the air and appeared to be leaving the planet. John watched and realized they were running from something.

"Chief are you seeing this?" Linda asked.

"Blue Team, regroup at my position," the Chief said over the coms.

As the Covenant descended into the small valley below them he and Blue Team saw what it was they were running from.

They were white _creatures_ with red eyes pursuing the Covenant, and there were many different types. Some were tall and skinny, others larger and lumbering, but all looked like they were made of the same thing. John knew these creatures were the same as the one that was on the bridge of the _Phoenix,_ and he saw one creature which looked the same as what spoke to him with Cortana's voice. _She must have been trying to warn me._

"Chief!" Kelly said. "Look there," her voice sounded astonished.

"It can't be…" Fred said echoing her emotion.

"Is that…the _Flood?"_ Kelly whispered.

John looked and saw hundreds of small crawling white shapes that indeed looked like Flood. Pain shot through his mind and memories began to flash, a sickening feeling crawling over him, as profound as the first time he had discovered the terrible truth. _Oh no._ "Not exactly," he said finally. "It's much worse."

"How do you mean Chief?" Linda was pulling out her sniper.

" _They,_ are the Precursors."

"Who?" Fred turned sharply.

"I can't explain now," the Chief said putting a new clip into his Assault Rifle, "but _they_ and the Flood are one and the same."

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

Precursors! Though I won't say anything about them specifically in this little note, I will say I seriously hope the Precursor's are indeed the new enemy 343i is refusing to tell us anything about.

Ryan: I absolutely love talking Halo lore. You're right, there is so much to discover in the media outside the games, you just have to look for it. In fact, that's one of my favorite things about Halo. In learning how 343i operates I'm finding that EVERYTHING is deliberate (I think that's Frankie's influence). It's why people have spent so much time analyzing trailers and such this go around, because there's a lot of information being given in the subtle details. For instance, what does the crumbling Chief statue in the Hunt the Truth live action trailer tell us? It tells us a lot actually. I find it's rather fun to try and piece together how everything fits. :-)

Thanks for reading everyone!


	5. My Enemy is now my Friend

**The Reclamation. Chapter 5: My Enemy is now my Friend**

 _I thought all the Precursor's died,_ the Chief thought to himself. To the far right the Chief saw a Flood Precursor Form leap onto an Elite that had minimal armor on. As soon as it touched his skin, the Elite screamed and began to de-materialize. It almost looked like he was being broken down on a metaphysical level. In a matter of moments his cells wisped away and he was gone. The Precursor Form shrieked, shook and kept going.

"What the hell?" Linda said.

"We're still about 500 kilometers from the Guardian," the Chief said.  
Having finished with the remainder of the Covenant the Precursor's were making their way towards them. A few of the taller ones stopped and looked at the Covenant weapons which were laying on the ground. They cocked their heads, and then picked them up.

John ran as fast as he could rolling to cover behind one of the larger glass shards (It had to be at least 6 meters thick at its base) which was sticking out of the planet's surface. It wasn't exactly a good place to find cover, but it was better than being out in the open. Kelly was still on the ghost shooting to the far right. Linda had fallen back and Fred stood just in front of her, also behind one of the shards.

He stood up and fired his weapon at the two dozen Flood Precursor Forms which were making their way towards him. Several of them exploded and vaporized. The Chief shook his head. He couldn't help but get the feeling that something was off. _Why are they attacking this way?_ He wondered.

The Chief didn't really have time to think about the question. He continued to fire his gun in a spray pattern killing more Flood Forms. One of them managed to get past his defenses, and before he could even react, it lept at him and landed on his suit. Immediately his suit's shields drained to zero and it shrieked. He fell backwards, with it now crawling over his helmet. He grasped the Flood Form and attempted to pull it off of himself before it could do anymore damage. The Form was _slippery_ , and trying to grasp it was proving difficult. It was using its tentacles to try and gain access to his helmet, and it managed to crack his visor on the left side. The Chief finally pulled it off and threw it, sending it flying in the air. Using his assault Rifle he gunned it down. It shrieked, than vaporized.

Three of the larger forms were now dangerously close to him. Two of them had Storm Rifles and the other had a Carbine. He ducked, waited until he heard their weapons cycle and stood up to empty a clip. Two of the forms went down, but the other was still making its way toward him. He dumped the clip and reached for another only to realize he was out. John ducked once again and unclipped a grenade. He tagged the Precursor which screamed and stumbled to the 8 meter tall molten shard John was hiding behind. He rolled away, but it was too late. The Form exploded sending glass fragments hurling towards John. The effect was as if a hundred Needlers had gone off. His energy shields hadn't managed to come back online, so every piece of glass was a direct hit.

"Chief!" Kelly called. She was by his side in a manner of moments.

He tried to sit up, but found several glass shards had penetrated the suit and had embedded themselves in his abdomen. He grunted as he pulled them out, blood oozing from the holes. Kelly opened her medical kit and began spraying bio foam where he was wounded. He winced. A shot whizzed by his head as Linda took out another Precursor Form.

"How does that feel Chief?" Kelly asked.

"Better. Don't let those things touch you," he said dryly.

"What's the status of your suit?"

"The shield hasn't come back on," he said slowly getting up. "But I can fix it. Linda! Keep covering me. I'm going to activate the Orbis."

He pulled the sphere and dropped it on the ground, allowing it to expand and activate. He could use some of its energy to recharge his fusion pack. He input the command and watched the sphere dim slightly as he felt the suit reactivate. The warning light blinked on, and the shield began to recharge, filling up to only halfway before it stopped. _The fusion pack itself must have gotten damaged._

John looked at the upcoming onslaught of Precursor's. _I can tell the Orbis to discharge energy like a Pulse Grenade. That should slow them down at least._ He put in the request. "Spartans, hit the deck!" he called. The sphere dimmed even more before sending out a wave of orange light, which radiated out to about 500 meters, instantly killing all the Precursor's within its blast radius that were not Flood Forms. The sphere remained a dull orange, but John saw it was slowly coming back to life. _Better not try that again. I need it so I can interface with the Guardian._

John heard a shriek and saw Flood Forms were converging on their position. "The disruption charge passed over them," he called to the team. "And there's more Precursor Forms coming from the North," the Chief said shrinking the Orbis back down. "We need the Guardian if we want to get all of them."

"Can you activate it remotely?" Kelly asked.

"Yes, but its main weapon will kill us as well as the Precursors. It does have secondary defense turrets, but we can't risk exposing it to the Precursor assault until we know we can board it."

"Chief, I'm out!" Fred said.

"As am I," Linda called.

John looked around at the continuing onslaught of Precursor ranks which were getting closer by the second. If they didn't find a solution, him and his Spartan's wouldn't live much longer.

"Chief!" Kelly called as Promethean Knights began to materialize all around them.

 _No,_ he thought. "Form up!"

A Knight materialized directly in front of him but to his surprise, it didn't attack. Instead it dipped its head, gave him a Suppressor, turned toward the Precursors, phased out, and then phased back in the middle of the enemy ranks flicking its energy sword about and killing anything in its way. John watched with fascination as Crawlers, Soldiers and small Forerunner vessels known as Phaetons came into view.

"They…aren't attacking us," Linda gasped.

"My friends need weapons," John said to the nearest Knight. It vanished from sight and returned a moment later with a weapons case which is dropped off.

"Fred, Linda, Kelly, we need to get to the Guardian. Let the Forerunner AI's take the brunt of the damage."

"Rodger Chief," Kelly nodded and pointed the Scattershot at a Precursor form, blowing its head off and causing it to dematerialize. "Ready when you are."

"Now!" The Chief ran through the battle, only stopping to shoot Precursors that were in his way. He saw a Forerunner Phaeton ship above him, lowering itself and matching him and the teams speed. "It's going to pick us up!" John called. The ship efficiently cleared the enemy threats and lowered itself just far enough off the ground for the Spartans to grab on.

Once on board John activated the Orbis Signifer. "The Guardian is at these coordinates," he said sending them to the Forerunner ship's computer. "Can you get us there?"

Something chirped, and the ship sped up.

"Do you think they're helping us because you have that?" Fred asked, pointing to the Orbis.

"Maybe. Guardian in 5 Kilometers. Activating."

A Seismic sound began to rumble in front of the team as the Guardian lifted out of the ground. Its large wings continued to unfold until it reached full height, a staggering 1,000 meters tall.  
"It's massive," Kelly said in awe.

"300 meters. We'll make it," the Chief said confidently. "100 meters." He enlarged the picture of the Guardian in preparation to open its main doors. "30 meters." He opened its bay doors. "20 meters…10…3…." As soon as they were clear he shut the craft in and activated the main weapon.

The sphere showed the blast radiating outward. In a matter of moments no part of the planet had been left untouched and the Precursor army was destroyed. John exhaled.

"I knew you could do it John," Cortana's voice said in the distance.

John turned off his mic. "Where are you?" he asked quietly, hoping she would tell him.

He got no response.

 _Cortana._

"Can this thing travel through Slip Space?" Fred asked. "We need to find a way out of here."

"We need to send the Guardian to a secure location. It needs to stay hidden until we can find the others."

"Others?" Linda asked.

"Yes."

"How many?"

"two others."

Blue team stood in silence for a moment until Kelly said, "So do we have a way off the planet?"

 _There must be a Portal somewhere on this planet._

John looked at the Orbis and asked it to show him all Forerunner technology on the planet. 2500 Kilometers from where they were was indeed a Portal. "The Prometheans came through there. We can use it to get off planet."

"Where does it lead?" Fred asked.

John enlarged the image of the Portal on the Orbis and began to read all relevant data. "Several places, including the Ark."

"Lucky us," Kelly said.

John sent the coordinates to the Phaeton's computer and reopened the Guardian's bay doors so they could leave. After the Carrier exited the Guardian John used the Orbis to access its Slip Space systems.

 _Do you wish to send Guardian 02 to Instillation 0100 per Reclamation procedure 1.1?_

 _Affirmative. Place Guardian under lockdown until I arrive. Enter Slip Space in seven minutes.  
_

 _Orders Received._

"We have seven minutes before the Guardian enters Slip Space," the Chief announced.

"The disruption field from the jump will be so large it will destroy the Portal. No one will be able follow us," Linda said.

The Chief nodded at her and looked out over Meridian. Was the only reason Cortana brought him here to stop the Precursor's from obtaining the Guardian?

"Chief?" Fred called.

John turned his attention to his team.

"Those Precursors. What were they?"

John closed his eyes for a moment. "The oldest known race in this galaxy. They created the Domain, the Mantle, Forerunners, us."

"They created us," Linda said doubtfully. The Chief nodded.

"Then why were they trying to kill us?"

John paused and tried to remember, but only got fragmented pieces of memories that didn't make any sense to him. "I don't know."

The ship slowed to a stop and lowered to the ground. "We're here," Kelly reported. John closed the Orbis and hopped off the ship.

"Slip Space rupture forming," Linda said. John looked back at the Guardian, and then tapped the controls on the Portal to route them to the Ark.

"Go," he said to his team. "I'm right behind you."

The Portal dumped Blue Team in a room somewhere below the surface of the Ark.

"There's a Cartographer," Kelly said walking up to it and turning it on.

Blue Team stood in silence as they looked at the map.

"Chief where's this AI you're supposed to find?"

John input Mendicant Bias' signature code into the Cartographer.

 _Error. No code matching can be found on this planet.  
_

Mendicant Bias had shielded himself away so no scanners would detect him. _Typical._

John continued to stare at the map of the Ark, wondering where Mendicant Bias was exactly. Perhaps Mendicant could shield himself from the Ark's Cartographer, but he couldn't shield himself from the Orbis Signifer. He activated it and input the signature code.

"I know where to go," John said. "But you will all have to stay here."

"No Chief, you're not leaving us behind," Kelly said definitely.

"It's necessary," he said. "ONI…"

"…is probably looking for us as a team. If you go in separately you'll less likely be spotted," Fred said finishing his sentence. John nodded.

Kelly's shoulders slumped. "I understand," she said finally.

"What are our orders, Chief?" Fred asked.

"Find us a ship. Preferably a Forerunner ship."

"I don't know if I can fly one of those," Kelly said.

"You won't have to," he said. John input the necessary data, then stopped to look at his team. After he and Cortana had nearly destroyed the Ark it had never been the same. John asked the Orbis to show him the current status of the instillation.

 _Not good,_ he thought. The UNSC were in the midst of trying to repair it, but the systems were still going haywire. Using the Orbis he tagged each of his team with a Forerunner signature code.

"I've tagged the nearest Forerunner ship bay. There is one Picket class destroyer," he said deactivating the Orbis and giving it to Fred. "I've also given each of you a Forerunner signature code. The system on the Ark should recognize you as Forerunner."

"What's the status of the UNSC Chief?" Fred said.

"They are in the process of making their way down to where the ship is stored, but they haven't gotten there yet because of the defense AI's that are malfunctioning. Once you get to the hanger bay the ship will automatically open when you get within five meters, and the Orbis will tell the autopilot where to go once you've reached the bridge."

"Which is where?" Kelly asked.

"To me, once I've activated this beacon," he said lifting up a small orange light which he had detached from the sphere. Any other questions?"

The team was silent.

"Good. I'm going radio silent until then."

"Chief wait," Linda said walking to him with a bundle of cloth and a Bolt Shot. "I found this cloak back there by a body. Using it will help throw off anyone looking for a Spartan, and help take some of the brunt off your shields since they're damaged."

John nodded. "Thank you Linda," he said gratefully slipping it over his armor and securing the Bolt Shot to his side. "We'll meet up soon."

He looked at his team and turned off his coms. Though John didn't admit it to them, he wished he didn't have to part ways with his team.

 _What if something happens to them?_

No. He would not think it. They were the best of the best and they would be just fine. John swiped the smile gesture across his helmet and then turned to walk up to the surface and out into the desert.

The wind whipped around John as he slowly, but deliberately walked. The firing of the Halo array had turned what was once the pinnacle of the Forerunner's achievement into a barren wasteland.

 _Cortana._ His thoughts immediately began to drift back to her as he tried to make sense of what had been happening. Where was she? Why hadn't she told him where to find her?

 _Maybe she doesn't know,_ John thought.

* * *

The Chief had been walking for hours, and the temperature was increasing as he got deeper into the desert. Since his shields were damaged the heat was increasing the load on his suits systems. The cooling mechanism which helped regulate his body temperature was starting to malfunction as well. John felt himself beginning to sweat and grow weary. But still he walked onward. He wondered how his team was doing, and if the Ark had actually responded to their presence the way he hoped.

He came up to a rocky cliff edge and stopped. _This is it,_ he realized. John hesitated, then took another two steps.

The ground beneath him began to rumble as sand and rock began to float upwards. He heard creaking beneath the Earth as a large sinkhole formed. Up out of the sinkhole a large War Sphinx emerged and began to unfold itself.

John took Cortana's chip out of his armor and looked down at it. _I'm here, Cortana. I've found Mendicant Bias._ The wind from the War Sphinx pushed the cloak's hood back. _You sent me here to find the Mantle, but maybe he can tell me where to find you_ , John said tightening his grip around her chip. _I promise._

He put her chip away and stared upward at the War Sphinx. He saw an AI disengage from the Sphinx' chest before it sunk back down into the desert.

"Welcome Bornstellar-Who-Makes-Eternal-Lasting. I have waited a long time for you," Mendicant Bias said as he came closer to the Chief. John immediately felt something within him identify with the name. "Last you and I met as enemies but today we are as it always should have been. You are my master."

John remained silent.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Mendicant Bias," he said slowly. "But why do you call me that?"

The AI studied him a moment. "Because that is who you are, in part."

"What?"

"You have been experiencing memories you've never had, yes? Headaches?"

"I have," John said troubled.

"Then you are Bornstellar. I will explain to you what I can, but not here. I am detecting that your bio suit is severely damaged. We must leave this area before the load on its systems becomes too much."

John flicked the homing beacon and looked once more at Mendicant Bias. John suddenly remembered something about him. Though Mendicant Bias as he saw him now was _much_ larger than any UNSC AI, this was still only one small fragment of the larger whole. In fact, Mendicant Bias was so large it took several full size Forerunner battle ships to house all of the data which made up his processing matrix.

"Where's the rest of you?"

Mendicant's three "eyes" flashed yellow. "All over," he said in an amused tone. "Now we must go."

"My team is in the process of securing a ship. They should be here shortly."

"Good." Mendicant turned and began to fly away, with John running at near full speed to catch up to him. Suddenly Mendicant Bias stopped and turned around. "Where is your Ancilla?" he asked.

John stopped and showed him Cortana's damaged chip. "She…" he choked.

Mendicant's eyes flashed green. "Most troubling," he said. "Come. Your team has successfully stolen a ship. They will be here shortly."

John looked up into the sky and saw a sleek Forerunner ship rapidly approaching. It slowed down and began to lower to the surface, allowing John to climb aboard.

"Chief!" Kelly said, giving him a hand.

"Report."

"All green."

"Bornstellar, with your permission I will take the control of the ship and make a series of Slip Space jumps to prevent anyone from tracking us."

"Do it."

Mendicant's eyes flashed blue and John felt the ship rumble.

"Fred, we'll meet you on the bridge."

"Acknowledged Chief. Glad we're all together."

John agreed.

"Jumps complete Bornstellar," Mendicant said as soon as they walked onto the bridge.

"Chief why does he keep calling you that?" Kelly asked.

John looked at Mendicant Bias. "We are safe for the time being. Let us talk, you and I alone and then you can explain to them what you will." John nodded and began to walk behind the AI.

He felt Kelly's hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her. "It's alright," he said gently. She nodded and released her hand.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Mendicant Bias. What a bad ass. I don't know if any of you follow Halo Escalation, but in last month's comic in the last panel they show him. What's cool about Mendicant Bias is that he can be anywhere doing just about anything, so having him at the Absolute Record doesn't necessarily interfere with this plot thread. The new comic comes Wednesday, so I guess we'll see if I'm completely wrong about that!

Chief as Bornstellar. Obviously this is not my theory, but from everything that I've seen and read, I feel like 343i drops too many hints for them all to be coincidences. There's definitely some challenges that come with this plot line though. In later chapters you can tell me if I overcome those challenges or completely botch it. This fic is definitely a large experiment!

And let's talk about this desert scene. For a long time I just figured this was 343i's way of setting the tone for the latest game and was in no way shape or form related to the plot line. But two things have made me reconsider. The first is there's a Halo 5 figurine you can buy which has him in the cloak. That definitely intrigued me. Why would there be merchandise you can buy with Chief in a cloak? The second is in the Halo 5 OST soundtrack that was leaked. At around 10 minutes the motif for the music changes into this eerie desert theme. Now, this could be a theme for Sanghelios, but Sanghelios doesn't strike me as eerie, and there's this weird wind noise in that track as well. It immediately brought up the E3 trailer in my mind so it gave me some hope that perhaps this scene will, in some capacity make its way into the game. We'll see!

Also, the Precursor's. What are they up to? :-)

Danny R- Glad I surprised you! I've got a couple more up my sleeve.

Sheploo- I hear ya there. As Agent Locke I think we're going to be fighting a lot of Soldiers, but as Chief I'm not so sure. Even if Chief isn't Bornstellar it seems counter productive to me that the Warden Eternal (who is orange, indicating a Didact AI) would be helping the Chief, but the rest of the AI's would be fighting him. Now, it could be a thing where at some point in the game you stop fighting the Promethean AI's because of a turning point in Chief's plot. But I do think it's perfectly valid to say the Precursor's aren't super Halo 5esq, because they really might not be. While I'm not the only one who really wants the Precursor's to be in the games there's zero hints from the studio indicating they are the new enemy.

Ryan- You read my mind! I love it. I'm also pumped for season 2 of HTT. Do you read Halo Escalation? In one of the first comics (episode 4 maybe) Petra meets up with Lasky and says she'll help him with a mission in exchange for the story of the Master Chief :-O. Even though Lasky doesn't know the Chief as well as others, he's VERY intuitive. I think he understands what makes our big guy tick more than most people.

Also, you're right about Precursor's and the Flood. Chief just said that in the moment. Who has the time to explain 500,000 years of history in the middle of the battle? :-P. Luckily we have Mendicant Bias around. He'll be giving the team some perspective quite soon. Also, if you haven't seen it, I totally recommend IGN's rewind theater for the Hunt the Truth live action trailers. These guys totally geek out. It's hilarious and they say a lot of interesting things that I'm inclined to agree with.

Thanks for being here everyone!


	6. Living Memories

**The Reclamation. Chapter 6: Living Memories**

Once John and Mendicant Bias were alone the AI turned to him and said, "I have a confession I must make."

"Oh?" John said taking off his helmet and setting it down.

"As you were leaving the Ark I altered your destination as the Portal collapsed, but I was not completely successful. You ended up much further from where you were supposed to be. I am…sorry."

John tried to process this. "So you're saying you...sent us to Requiem?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"When I scanned you, I discovered that the gene imprint for Bornstellar the Forerunner was in you, but I knew it had to be unlocked. So I sent you to Requiem where I knew the Librarian…"

At the mention of the Librarian John's head began to spin and lightning cracked over his eyes. He doubled over, collapsing on the ground while hundreds of memories flashed in his mind. He remembered how he fought through a mound of politics during their courtship. He remembered quiet nights in their home which he had built just for her. He felt the intimate touch of her hand on his face. He experienced sheer joy as his children came to greet him after being away. He felt frustration when she was stubborn, and gratefulness at her counsel. He lived through all of it in a manner of minutes.

John threw up. "What's happening to me?" he said weakly.

"You are experiencing your past memories," Mendicant Bias said matter-of-factly. "It does no good to fight it. Surrender and let them pass through you."

His grief and Bornstellar's were mixing in ways he couldn't understand.

"My wife," he gasped. She was his, and she was gone. He clutched his chest as a familiar ache returned inside of him.

He had tried so hard to find her, but in the end her stubbornness had made it impossible. He felt regret that he didn't protect her, he felt loss, and he felt pain. He had… _loved her._

John blinked furiously, trying to keep his eyes from watering. Whether it was from pain or emotion he could not say. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to process the feelings these memories invoked.

What was weird was some of what he had experienced didn't feel new. It was like a faint echo to… John took Cortana's chip out and looked at it once more.

 _I...love her?_ John let the thought sit with him a moment. He now understood what it meant to love someone, but love seemed like a poor description of his bond to Cortana. _It's much deeper. Beyond it even_ , he realized as a cold shutter went up his spine.

He could physically feel her in his mind, could hear her in his thoughts, could understand the subtle differences of her moods and she, watching the neurons in his brain fire understood him better than perhaps he understood himself. She could even view the world from his perspective by tapping into his optic nerve. That intimate connection had fuzzed the lines of their identities. They were one, an extension of the other. They were like twin blades in the same sheath or two opposite sides of the same coin. Each side with a distinctive face, but blurred somewhere in the middle. One cannot exist without the other. If he were to deny her existence, he'd be denying himself.

He supposed marriage was a crude representation of this idea, but in the end there were simply no words to express exactly what had been forged between them. It went beyond the physical to something else. Something even more fundamental. And as far as he knew, no one had ever experienced what they had shared. Not even his life as Bornstellar.

 _Cortana must have felt the effects of this first_ , he realized. Without her, the past 8 months had been an empty hell, but that was nothing to the four and a half years she had experienced alone. Yes, she knew he was alive, but 7 seconds was an eternity for an AI. She managed to live a million eternities alone and isolated, watching him sleep.

 _In some ways she's stronger than me_ , he thought. He had never thought to ponder his bond to Cortana because though he was confused by her at first, their trust and connection had happened so naturally. In the end his bond to her was so strong it had gone beyond logical thought to simply how he viewed the world. Introspection had never been something he was good at.

That was his weakness which Cortana made up for, and that was painful to think about. Had she died thinking he didn't care for her? Though he wanted to believe she was alive somewhere he still didn't know.

John thought about their last conversation, fully understanding what she was really trying to say to him at the end. _I've waited so long to do that._ He winced, remembering though he could feel her in his mind, she could never feel him. He thought about the need for touch, and how painful the physical barrier must have been for her.

 _What would it be like_ , he wondered _, if she had flesh?_ His skin prickled at the thought, and his mind drifted to a few potent memories from his past life. It was the only thing they had not shared. He swallowed. What would such a thing do to their relationship? Unfortunately the question could never be answered.

Was their bond the result of conscious planning? Or was it something no one even dreamed was possible? If the former, both of them had been doomed. She would be the first to agree, their bond made living apart damn near impossible. He _needed_ her, and that simple fact made him more vulnerable than he ever thought possible.

John stood up, and found he had blood in his mouth. He spit, wiped his mouth then looked at Mendicant Bias.

"My...the _Librarian_ said she planned for Cortana as well as myself. Why?"

"I do not know," Mendicant Bias said thoughtfully. "But, as you know, the Librarian never did anything without a specific reason. If Cortana's existence was planned for, there was a specific reason why."

"Was that reason for her to die?" John's voice came out bitterer than he had intended.

"I don't think so. She couldn't have planned for every possibility, but I am sure she was meant for more."

 _Cortana,_ he ached.

Mendicant Bias said nothing, only allowed John the silence he needed.

"Tell me about this imprint," John said after a time.

"It is a practice among Forerunner's to imprint memories on a younger undeveloped Forerunner called a Manipular. Bornstellar was one such Manipular. He was imprinted with the Didact's memories, and Bornstellar's imprint is on you."

The thought troubled John. "The Didact who tried to kill me? Who hates Humanity?"

"That same one, though Bornstellar made completely different choices when he became the Didact. He _liked_ humans, and he chose to fire the Halo array when the Ur Didact refused."

Yes, that sounded right. John remembered he once had friends named Chakas and Riser.

 _Will I forget who I am?_ He wondered. "Does this mean…I will become Bornstellar?"

"Not in the traditional sense. Though imprints from Forerunner to Forerunner were more complete you are not a Forerunner and you do not have the same brain structure. All of Bornstellar's experiences are latent memories within you. You may be able to access them, but the majority of memories will only surface when they are stirred by sensory. You see something, smell something that is familiar in your past life. I would suggest keeping your mind more relaxed until most of the memories have been awakened. You'll experience less pain in your mind."

"I see," John said. He paused. Many more questions were burning.

"Speak Bornstellar."

"Why did the Librarian do this to me?"

Mendicant Bias' eyes flashed orange, then he said, "I believe it was two reasons. The first is you now have command of the entire Forerunner military."

 _The Prometheans,_ thought John. "What's the second?"

"At this moment the Domain can only be accessed by a Forerunner."

John nodded understanding everything. He paused, then took a deep breath.

 _I am not who I was,_ he thought. The Librarian had given him a great gift, but it also troubled him. He had sacrificed everything to become a Spartan. Without the Spartan's humanity would not have survived and he had accepted that fate a long time ago. But it had felt fairly easy to accept his fate without ever experiencing love or family. He had always seen himself as separate from Humanity. But now, having experienced a sliver of life as a Forerunner he found himself wanting those joys for himself, as a human. _That's why we fight,_ he realized. _We fight for the right to live, to have communities, to find love and watch our children grow. If only…._

Those were cozy thoughts, and he dismissed them. He might wish he had a family of his own, but the fate of the Galaxy required them to be what they were. Everything had its place, including him and Cortana.

"We have a lot to do," John said squeezing his fist.

"Agreed."

"Let's go and tell my team what has happened. I know what we need to do."

John found Blue Team standing quietly on the bridge. "Chief what's going on?" Linda asked.

John began to recount everything which had transpired. He told them of the Librarian placing the geas within him, how she had unlocked it (something which he left out of his report to ONI) and how Bornstellar's memories and DNA were helping him control Forerunner technology. John left out his emotional experience. It was something he would only share with Cortana, if he ever found her.

When he was finished his team looked at him in silence. Fate was something all Spartan II's dealt with, which made it easier for Blue Team to accept what had happened. Fate it seemed, over 100,000 thousand years had come together to make John into what he was.

"Chief, how does this fit into the Precursor attacks?" Fred asked.

"And what are they exactly?" Kelly added.

"The Precursors are an ancient race," Mendicant Bias began. "They have existed in many different forms, experiencing the universe and gaining wisdom until they remake themselves into something else. They created many different races, the Forerunners and ancient Humans being two of them. The Precursors decided they would leave this Galaxy and entrust the responsibility of watching all races to the Forerunners by passing on the 'Mantle.' The Mantle is in part the moral code by which all sentient races should abide, therefore existing peacefully with one another.

However, after testing the Forerunners the Precursor's deemed the Forerunner's unworthy of this responsibility and decided they would kill off their creation off as they had done many times before. The Forerunners decided to fight back and drove the Precursor's out of this galaxy, nearly driving them to extinction. Many Precursor's decided to change their Form into dust particles so they could one day be reborn, and this is where the Flood comes from."

They changed their Form into the Flood. For what purpose?" Fred asked.

"This dust eventually became corrupted, so when they were reborn, they weren't... _right._ However the Precursors who did not change into the Flood decided to use their corrupted counter parts to achieve their end goal. After their war with the Forerunners it was decided the only way peace could truly exist is if all creatures were connected to a central intelligence, instead of their creations being autonomous," Mendicant Bias answered.  
"Why do you think they have returned now?"

"I cannot say. Though I spent time speaking with the Precursors I cannot pretend to understand all their motivations. The Domain is theirs and the Mantle is theirs, and if they wish to retrieve them it cannot be good."

"Have there been any more Precursor attacks?" Fred asked.

Mendicant glowed Blue. "Scanning…no."

The Spartan's looked at each other silently, all thinking the same thing.

"We need more information," John said.

"ONI?" Linda said quietly.

"ONI," Fred agreed.

* * *

 **Author's Note.**

Whew! That was a lot of information and some pretty startling revelations for the Chief.

I've got a couple of notes for you.

1\. If you're curious about source material for this chapter, I recommend Jonathan Goff's poem "Connectivity" which can be found in Halo Evolutions. I read it recently and it confirmed a few things about Cortana and Chief's relationship that I was already feeling, but just couldn't quite put into words.

2\. I've also got something I'd really love to hear from you guys on. What do you guys think is/was Cortana's purpose? Why did the Librarian plan for her existence? It's a really important question that I haven't seen the community engage with very much. I've used the Chief and Mendicant Bias' conversation to to give some initial thoughts about that.

It seems unlikely (though it could still be a possibility) to me that Cortana's only purpose was to keep the Chief alive. I feel like any smart AI could have done that. Even BB, for all of his "I'm pure logic" can't help his programming to protect the humans he is assigned to. Cortana is unique. Even the way the other AI's talk about her shows just how special she is. So why was her creation necessary? What is so important that she was planned for 100,000 years in the past?

I do have an idea, but it hinges on the plot of Halo 5 somewhat progressing like my story, so I'd love to hear what your ideas are! Shoot me a comment :-). At the moment we don't have a lot of clues so your guess is as good as mine!

3\. Also, I feel I should make a small note about the Lore of the Precursor's and the Forerunners. There are two versions to this story. The first goes like this. When the Forerunner's were rejected as the ones to take up the Mantle they attacked the Precursor's unprovoked and took the Mantle for themselves. The second version is the one I've told. That the Forerunners were deemed unworthy and the Precursor's were going to eliminate them. We don't know which is truth so I'm going with the second because, well, I just am.

4\. Last thing is, in last chapter's note I mentioned Mendicant Bias showing up in Halo Escalation. Turns out I was completely wrong! It is with almost certainty Offensive Bias (unless the Forerunners created another Contender AI and we didn't know it). I thought it was Mendicant Bias because I thought I read somewhere Offensive Bias looked a lot different. Anyway, I'm excited to see where the comics end up.

THANKS for all the reviews and support! This has been quite fun so far. Looking forward to hearing from you!


	7. ONI

**The Reclamation. Chapter 7: ONI**

"Can you breach their security?" the Chief asked Mendicant Bias.

"Easily. But I will need to interface with one of their computers."

"ONI keeps all their research stations top secret," Fred pointed out. "We'll need to select one as a target, and preferably one with minimal security."

"I have an idea," Kelly said reaching to her data pad. "The information we downloaded from the ONI computer. Each transmission has a sub encryption frequency so if Mendicant Bias can isolate it we can see scan for those same signals and find where we need to go."

"You never erased it?" the Chief asked.

"No, I had been planning to turn it over to Captain Lasky, but…." she shrugged.

"Do it," John said to Mendicant Bias. A beam went out from his eyes as he scanned the data pad.

The screen flickered and a video began to play on the holo table.  
Admiral Osman was strutting across the deck in front of a scientist."Report!" she barked.

"We haven't activated the sphere yet."

"And why not?"

"From what we've determined it's highly dangerous. It's not like other Forerunner technology that is cooperative with human DNA. In fact, the sphere may require a certain DNA signature to access it properly. If we don't do this right, the consequences could be disastrous."

"Then you better figure it out. I'm here only one more day, and I will be taking this with me."

"Yes Admiral."

The video cut out and immediately went to another video. This time Osman was in full gear.

"You have had enough time. You are doing it, and you are doing it _now,"_ she said harshly. _  
_

"But…"

"Better be careful of who you're talking to."

The Scientist reluctantly walked away and Osman turned to the screen.

"BB, are you recording this?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Ready to go Ma'am," the scientist said. A second video popped up on the screen showing a group of scientists standing around the inert Orbis Signifier.

"Proceed."

The Scientist tapped on the data pad, and the Orbis began to shake. It activated and expanded.  
"Success," Osman said.

"Energy readings are all over the chart." The scientist looked at the sphere and cautiously stepped towards it. John winced as he saw brilliant orange energy radiating out from the middle. The Scientists screamed, and their bodies glowed from the pulse. In a matter of moments they were all dead, chard and laying in the same positions Blue Team had found them. It was gruesome.

"Well, that didn't go as planned," Osman said unmoved.

"We would have had to eliminate them anyway," Black Box's voice said. "And we can use this."

"How so?"

"When we need to activate Operation 6412."

John shuttered. That was the name of their operation to infiltrate the research station.

Osman cocked her head, then smiled slightly. "Yes. I see. No evidence, just a nice cover story."

"How else would you get rid of a Spartan easily?"

"I hope it doesn't come to that. He is useful."

"Useful, but dangerous. He's a ticking time bomb. All of them are. And if he hears about…"

"…stopping him will be almost impossible. I know. We are on a time schedule so lets…"

The recording stopped, and all of the Spartan's stood in silence.

"They were planning on eliminating you? Us?" Kelly whispered.

"It would have worked," John said taking the Orbis off his armor and looking at it. "The only reason it didn't is because I am the Iso Didact. It knew who I was."

"Why would they want to kill you?" Linda asked quietly.

"Because," Mendicant Bias said, "they are afraid of you."

 _Don't trust Osman._ Cortana had been right. Once again, she had saved his life.

"She was going to kill those scientists," Fred said shaking his head, "If the Orbis hadn't done it for her."

What else had Osman and ONI been hiding? And why would they want to kill civilians? The job of the soldier is to protect mankind, not…he clenched his hand into a fist. "Mendicant Bias. How much time would you need to download the information from the Mainframe?"

"How much information do you want?"

"All of it."

"20 minutes."

John arched an eyebrow. "That quickly?"

"Yes. If I had all of me it would take a lot less time."

"How much will that tax your system?" John knew he was the most advanced AI ever created, but this was only a fragment, and he couldn't help but think of how Cortana struggled to cope with all of the data from the Halo array.

"Efficiency will decrease by 0.00021%."

"We can live with that."

"Bornstellar, I have isolated the frequency." He projected a planet on the screen. "Most likely target. Isolated, lower defenses, but the access node is sufficient."

"Take us there."

Mendicant's eyes glowed blue as he told the ship to go into Slip Space. "Done."

John turned from the table to look out the front window of his Forerunner ship. He folded his hands behind his back and watched Slip Space drift by.

ONI wanted him dead.

It shouldn't surprise him. He realized that the moment he told Captain Del Rio he wouldn't give up Cortana was the moment they lost their grip on him. His whole life he had taken orders without question, simply doing what he was told to do and never thinking what the repercussions of those orders might be. Most of them had been good, but John would be lying to himself if he said they were all good.

 _I may have been created to follow, but my greater purpose is to lead._

That was Bornstellar talking. No, that was himself talking. He and Bornstellar were one and the same, he just never knew it until now. _In any case my mission parameters have not changed. My mission is to protect Humanity, and to protect Cortana._

 _Cortana._

He couldn't help but appreciate the irony. The Librarian had made him stronger. He had the most powerful AI in the universe floating by his side in addition to weapons, a better ship and the Prometheans. But for all of it he still didn't know where Cortana was, how to find her, or if he could do anything for her. Hell, he still didn't know if she was even alive.

It was impossible for John to remain objective about the situation, and he found himself swinging between his normal optimism and down right pessimism. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew a part of him _needed_ to believe she was still alive. The belief gave him hope the ache would soon be alleviated, and he wouldn't spend the rest of his life (however long that may be) feeling so empty. Their… _entanglement_ wasn't something he could move past. It was permanent and he would feel those effects regardless of whether she was present or not.

After a time Mendicant Bias turned to him and said, "Preparing to exit Slipspace."

John nodded as Signius VI came into view. "Land the ship as close to facility as you can without giving away our position."

Mendicant Bias' eyes glowed blue as he brought the ship down to the planet. Blue Team walked off the bridge and made their way to the cargo bay where they could choose their weapons. John found himself smiling because Blue Team had managed to find the Forerunner version of their preferred weapons.

Linda inspected the Binary Rifle. "It's not home but, it's pretty good," she said to the Chief.

John grabbed a Suppressor off the wall and checked the readings on his suit. His shield still read half full. It would certainly make things more difficult if they got into a fire fight.

"Mendicant Bias do we have stun rounds aboard?" John asked as the AI came into the room.

"Yes. The Bolt Shot is equipped to output less damage if you need it to."

"Don't fire your main weapon unless it's absolutely necessary," the Chief said to the rest of the team.

"Rodger that Chief," Fred said.

"Let's go."

Blue Team exited the ship and began to make their way to the ONI research facility. It was a dark night with a clear but moonless sky. The research facility was located deep in the planet's forest, in a valley surrounded by mountainous terrain. Getting there would be time consuming.

The team walked in silence through the night. _There's no going back,_ John thought. Once they infiltrated the base they really would be guilty of crimes against the UNSC. Even though ONI wanted him eliminated he knew much of the UNSC didn't feel that way. But if they did this he and the team would have to be court marshaled. A best case scenario outcome would be they were guilty of insubordination. Worse case? Treason. Even Spartan's were subject to UNSC laws and regulations, and no one, not even Admiral Hood could spare them from the consequences of their actions.

John looked at each of Blue Team. They had given up so much and their loyalty moved him. _Perhaps I can protect them a little from the repercussions of what we're about to do._

They trudged onward and the stars moved in the sky.

"We're close," Mendicant Bias said a few hours later. John guessed it was nearly 5:30am local time.

"I need you all to stay outside," John said calmly.

"Chief, no. We're with you," Fred protested.

"I know," John said laying a hand on his brother's shoulder. "But Mendicant Bias and I can infiltrate it alone. It's more important that you stay out here and guard the perimeter."

"I know what you're trying to do," Fred said solemnly.

"Then let me do this for you," the Chief said.

"Chief," Fred hesitated.

"I _need_ to do this for you." John looked directly into Fred's eyes even though he couldn't see them.

Fred placed his hand on John's arm. "We were willing."

John squeezed Fred's shoulder before letting go.

"Call us when you need us," Kelly said softly.

"I will," he said seriously.

John turned on his heels and began to walk towards the door. "Cut the feed," he told Mendicant Bias.

"Done."

John crouched in the bushes about 50 meters from the main entrance to the facility. He pointed the Bolt Shot, zoomed in and stunned the three guards. He was grateful Mendicant Bias had given them sights for their Bolt Shots.

He moved in to the door and Mendicant Bias' eyes turned blue as he interfaced with the door's security. It opened.

The hallway was white with bright white lights that loomed overhead. It was _cold._ This was something which had never bothered the Chief before. In fact, this sterile environment is what he had grown up with. It used to be comfortable.

Another change brought on by living the life of a Forerunner.

John and Mendicant Bias turned the corner and came across a group of scientists. Their faces went white as they looked at John and then to Mendicant Bias (who was quite large) looming behind him.

"We don't want to hurt you," the Chief said seriously. "But I suggest you enter the room to our right. We will lock you in and release you once we are finished."

The lead scientist nodded and swiped his card. They filed in with their hands up. John shut the door, and it blinked red, indicating it was locked.

John and Mendicant Bias continued to weave their way through the facility. Two friendlies showed up on his radar behind them. John spun around and saw two ODST's walking across the hall. He fired the Bolt Shot before they were able to make a single move and they dropped to the floor.

Mendicant Bias opened another set of security doors and they kept going.

John shot the security guard on the other side.

"We've got another set of security doors and then we'll be there," Mendicant Bias reported.

John held his Bolt Shot up as they reached the final set of doors. The AI's eyes flashed and the doors immediately opened. John knew these doors were of the highest security and even Cortana would have had a hard time opening the lock. An image flashed across John's mind of his entire Forerunner fleet burning over the Ark.

 _Mendicant Bias nearly destroyed us,_ he thought. _If he ever decided to exert his will on the universe nothing could stop him, not even me._ _Can I trust him?_

They walked up to the ONI mainframe computer and Mendicant Bias' eyes turned blue. "Up link established Bornstellar. Do I have permission to download all records?"

 _I don't have a choice._ "Do it, and prioritize any information on Forerunner technology, Slip Space anomalies, anything to do with Spartans, UNSC ship locations and Cortana." He watched thousands of images flash across the screen.

Mendicant Bias' eyes returned to their normal color. "Before I go any further, I must tell you something Bornstellar."

"What is it?"

"A covert unit of Spartans has been dispatched to find you. I believe they know we are here."

"What kind of Spartans?"

"Spartan class IV. Fire Team Osiris."

"Blue Team, what's your status?" John said.

"All green Chief."

"Tap into the facilities monitoring systems," he said to Mendicant Bias.

"Detecting…four Spartans about 250 meters beyond the facility. They will be here before I've finished."

"Keep downloading. Can you get out of here without being seen? I'd rather keep you a secret."

"Yes," he said.

"We'll draw them off. If they believe it's just the four of us, they'll come after us and not bother with the facility."

"I will download the data and get back to the ship."

"Don't contact me unless you absolutely need to."

"Understood."

John turned and began to make his way out of the ONI facility. "We've got a Spartan IV Fire Team converging on our position," he told Blue Team. "And their sole purpose is to take us out."

"Acknowledged Chief," Fred replied. "Assuming we'll draw them away from the base to give Mendicant Bias time to download the information."

"Correct. They're coming in from the South East, so we'll need to find an LZ for Mendicant Bias to come pick us up."

John broke into a jog. They needed to get a head start before Osiris got too close. As he was running he saw another scientist in the hallway. He didn't have time to put him in a secure room so he shot him with a stun round.

John exited the facility to see Blue Team standing at the entrance. "Let's go," he called.

"There's a pass just a few kilometers from here. We can use it as an LZ," Kelly said.

"We've got to assume Osiris has outfitted themselves with advanced tracking gear," Fred said jogging next to John.

"Yes. They will probably see us before we see them."

"Chief, a confrontation is unavoidable," Kelly commented solemnly.

"I know," he said matching her tone.

John wished Mendicant Bias could have given him more information on this Fire Team. What were they like? Most of the Spartan IV's he had encountered were so undisciplined. _Human_ , he reminded himself. _Osiris has the advantage,_ he thought as he continued to jog. _They have read our files. They understand our tactics. We know nothing about them._

Not having all the information was something that had always been difficult for the Chief. _But they don't know I am the Didact,_ he realized. _And they don't know about Mendicant Bias. I'm different, and I know how I think about combat is now more Forerunner than Human._ He closed his fist, and felt more confident.

* * *

 **Author's Note.**

Thanks to everyone who stopped by in August and read this little story. 1300 views is truly lovely. Also thank you to those of you who commented on what you think Cortana's purpose is in the greater Halo story. SO interesting to postulate.

Also, just curious, how do you all pronounce ONI? OH-KNEE or OH-EN-EYE? I've heard it pronounced both ways in official Halo media.

Ryan: In response to your idea for Cortana's purpose of taking on the role as "John's Librarian" I know what you mean. It sort of goes along with the idea that Dr. Halsey has the Geas of the Librarian, which many people have speculated on. We will not be diving into that theory in this story (there's only so many puzzles this thing can solve before we loose ourselves) but some would argue that if Dr. Halsey has the Geas of the Librarian, so does Cortana. What's interesting about that is Cortana had become pretty far removed from Dr. Halsey in terms of personality and decision making at the end of her life. Which of the two would be more influenced by the Librarian? VERY hard to answer. The Didact and the Librarian dictated the fate of the universe, how interesting would it be if Chief and Cortana (if she's still alive) were to step into that role?

WalterMittyEsq: Thanks for continuing to be here. Appreciate it!


	8. Looking for Truth

**The Reclamation. Chapter 8: Looking for Truth**

"Chief, here's the pass," Kelly said as they jogged up to the opening. John looked up to the steep cliffs and mountains. He knew Osiris was up there somewhere waiting to pounce and they would use the high ground to their advantage. Though Kelly had scanned the area for a different location, this was the only place within 40 kilometers large enough for an LZ. They would have to make it work.

"Let's go," he called pointing his Suppressor to where he guessed Osiris was coming from. Stun rounds would be useless against the Spartan IV's, so Blue Team had switched to their main weapons. _Mendicant Bias should be on his way back to the ship,_ he thought.

All was quiet as they made their way into the pass.

"Blue Team, you are ordered to surrender your weapons immediately," a rich voice came through the Chief's helmet. "You are being arrested on charges of treason against the United Nations Space Command."

Nothing was showing up on Chief's HUD.

"Treason?" John replied back.

"Yes, treason. It's over 117. You are still a valuable asset to the UNSC so we are going to do all we can to help you."  
 _He probably believes that._ "And what exactly have we done that's treasonous?"

"You disobeyed orders by failing to report to Admiral Osman, turn over valuable Forerunner technology and you've broken into an ONI facility. You know exactly what you've done."

"It can't be considered treason to keep something that belongs to you," the Chief said flatly.

Spartan Locke was silent for a moment, as if he wasn't expecting that response. _Good._

"This is your final warning. Let us bring you in."

"Chief there!" Kelly called.

Friendlies began showing up on his HUD. They were up a steep cliff on the right exactly where the Chief guessed they would be. The Friend or Foe tag of the one who had been speaking to them was Agent Spartan Locke, ONI Special Forces.

"Chief, If I use the Binary Rifle I'll kill them," Linda said behind him.

John deliberated. Could they get out of this without taking the life of a fellow Spartan? The Chief had decided long ago he wouldn't take another human life unless it was absolutely necessary. Perhaps they could use Osirs' capture order against them.

"Hold off on that Linda. I don't think their intention is to kill us. I think their orders are to capture us."

"Why? So Osman kill us herself?" Linda snorted.

John sensors indicated that a Spartan was getting closer. He looked up to see Agent Locke flying towards him from above with his fist pointed downward. John took off running, but the impact made from the Ground Pound caused the Chief to stumble. He caught his footing and spun around, pointing the Suppressor at Locke. He fired.

Agent Locke leapt upward using his jetpack and took out his Battle Rife. A burst of bullets hit John's armor (still only sitting at half capacity) draining the shields to zero. The warning light flashed on so he dove behind some large rocks to let his shield's recharge. He glanced at the rest of Blue Team to see they were pinned down by the other members of Osiris. John stood up and fired at Agent Locke who was now sprinting towards him at top speed.

Once again Locke evaded. He jumped over some small boulders and was only a few meters in front of John. The suit Locke (and he guessed the rest of Osiris) were in was more technologically advanced than his own. _Do they have AI's?_ He couldn't help but wonder.

Locke began firing his Battle Rifle again. The Chief ducked, focusing his mind on where Locke was and where he was. He unclipped a Forerunner Pulse Grenade and threw it, knowing perfectly well Locke would dodge it.

"You used to be the best," Locke said in a bitter tone as he rolled out of the way of the Pulse Grenade. "Why have you betrayed us when we needed you the most?"

"I haven't," John said running for cover. He fired the Suppressor at Locke, this time hitting him. The Chief saw his shields vibrate.

"I don't believe you," Locke said returning fire.

The Chief ducked, then stood up to take a few more shots. "Then you'll never know the truth."

"What truth?" Locke threw a grenade forcing the Chief out of cover.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"Try me," Locke said running. There was a vertical cliff to the right of where the Chief was, and Locke began to scale it with ease to set himself up for another Ground Pound.

The Chief waited until just the right moment and began running towards Locke. He used his momentum to back flip off one of the small boulders and kicked Locke in the stomach as he was trying to land. The Spartan IV slammed into the cliff face he had just scaled causing rocks and debris to crumble as he fell to the ground. John ran after him, determined. He was going to knock Locke unconscious.

Locke sprang to his feet and spun to the left, but John caught him and elbowed him in the chest. Locke stumbled back but managed to keep his balance by activating something on his boots. He whipped out a knife and charged the Chief, attempting to stab John in the abdomen between the plates of his armor.

John blocked Locke's hand and for a moment, they were at a stalemate with Locke still trying to stab the Chief and John blocking him. Their shields made an odd gritting noise and John's drained to zero under the strain.

Though Locke's suit was more technically advanced, he still couldn't compete with the raw strength of a Spartan II. John bested him, managing to knock the knife from Locke's hand and sent it flying a couple of meters to their left.

The Chief noticed Locke was attempting to unclip something from his belt, so John thought quickly. He grabbed Locke and with every ounce of strength he could muster, the Chief head butted the Spartan IV. Locke fell to the ground as fresh cracks appeared in the Chief's HUD. _If my suit wasn't damaged this would be a lot easier,_ he thought.

John could hear a ship overhead. _Mendicant Bias._ John saw Kelly whiz by him and he took off running behind her.

"You're...not...out of this...yet," Locke said, his breath horse.

"Whatever you think you know Spartan Locke, you're wrong," John said in an effort to buy time. "I used to be like you once, following orders blindly. But ask yourself this, is the murdering of innocent civilians what you signed up for as a soldier? Because Humanity isn't who ONI says it is. It's all of us."

Fred and Linda were just about to catch up to him, followed closely by two of the other Spartans. John got ready and threw his other Pulse Grenade to create space between Blue and Osiris.

He saw Locke stand up. "I'm sorry Locke. I have a mission and I must complete it," the Chief said throwing the grenade.

Locke fired his Battle Rife which took out the Chief's shields once more and before they had a chance to regenerate the Spartan IV also threw something small which embedded itself in his left shoulder blade. It exploded, sending painful electricity through his chest and down his left arm.

"Chief!" Kelly cried.

The Picket Class ship was low enough that Blue Team was able to get on board so Fred, Linda and Kelly dragged the Chief onto the ship before Osiris could get another opportunity. The bay doors closed, and the ship took off.

"Are you hurt?" Kelly asked looking down at him.

"I'm alright," he said calmly, "but Locke fired something at me which caused my armor to lock up in my chest and left arm. Mendicant Bias, as soon as we're clear do an emergency Slip Space jump."

Both Fred and Kelly began to examine John's armor. "It won't unlock," Fred said.

"That weapon must be specifically calibrated for our armor," John said thoughtfully.

Mendicant Bias came a moment later. "Jump completed."

"Can you scan my armor and tell me what the problem is?"

"The weapon has destroyed the neural fibers so your suit can no longer communicate to the affected section which is why it has locked up."

"That's how they were planning on capturing us. Weakening our shields just in time for that _thing_ to neutralize us," Kelly said in a disgusted tone.

"Can we fix it?" John asked Mendicant Bias.

"I am afraid not."

"What will you do?" Linda asked quietly.

John looked at Mendicant Bias. "Maethrillian," he said solemnly.

The AI said nothing, only its eyes flashed blue indicating he had told the ship to enter Slip Space once more.

"Blue Team," the Chief said, "we have five hours until we reach our destination. We've been awake for over 24 hours, so right now the plan is to get some sleep. This may be the last chance we'll have for a while."

They nodded and pulled the Chief to his feet. He wouldn't be able to bend over, turn his torso or use his left arm, but John was thankful he could at least walk. He nodded at Blue Team who had begun to unclip their weapons and made his way to the bridge, Mendicant Bias close behind.

"Pulling relevant data on UNSC AI Cortana. Serial number CTN 0452-9," the AI said as soon as they reached the bridge. John was grateful he didn't have to ask the AI what to pull up from the ONI files. They appeared in a list on the holo table.

 _So much information,_ he thought. The first few pages of data were links to things that were either irrelevant or he already knew, such as her creation and what information she had absorbed on Alpha Halo.

John continued to scroll until he saw a file labeled EMOTIONAL BOND IMPACT REPORT CTN 0452-9 AND S0117.

He paused, then decided to open the file.

CTN 0452-9 GIVEN FREE CHOICE OF SPARTAN CARRIER TO COMPLETE MISSION OPERATION RED FLAG. CTN 0452-9 CHOOSES S0117. INITIAL INTEGRATION TEST RESULTS EXCEED EXPECTATIONS. SEE FULL REPORT.

ONI APPROVES ADDITIONAL SMART AI SPARTAN COMPANIONS. PROJECTIONS INDICATE EFFICIENCY INCREASED BY 80%.

OPERATION RED FLAG CANCELLED DUE TO THE FALL OF REACH.

FILE UPDATE:

CTN-0452-9 AND S0117 RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF ALPHA HALO. HUMANITY SAVED VIA AI SPARTAN PAIRING. ONI RESEARCH DIVISION TO LOOK FOR CHEAPER WAYS TO PRODUCE SMART AI'S. SEE FULL REPORT ON RESEARCH PROJECT.

FILE UPDATE:

S0117 HAS LEFT TO GO ON A SUICIDE MISSION TO RESCUE CORRUPTED AI FROM FLOOD INFESTED SHIP HIGH CHARITY. S0117 DEEMED EMOTIONALLY DEPENDENT ON AI COUNTERPART.

FILE UPDATE:

CTN 0452-9 SUCCESSFULLY RETRIEVED. AI CREATION FROM LIVE TISSUE HAS SEVERAL UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES. AI BELIEVED TO RECIPROCATE EMOTIONAL DEPENDENCY.

UPON COMPLETION OF MISSION INSTALLATION 00 S0117 AND CTN 0452-9 WILL BE SEPARATED BEFORE EMOTIONAL BOND CONFLICTS WITH ONI INTERESTS. SUGGEST REWRITING AI NEURAL SUB ROUTINES TO COMPLY WITH ONI MISSION PROTOCOLS. 

John stopped scrolling. _They were going to separate us?_ He thought as anger begin to boil inside of him. He had never considered a scenario where Cortana would be taken from him. What would he have done if they had tried? He kept reading.

THERE WILL BE NO FURTHER AI SPARTAN PAIRINGS VIA HUD INTERFACE UNTIL SOLUTION CAN BE FOUND TO COMBAT EMOTIONAL BONDING. AI BBX 8995-1 AGREES WITH CONCLUSION. SEE RELEVANT DATA.

FILE UPDATE:

S0117 DISOBEYED DIRECT ORDER FROM SUPERIOR IN REGARDS TO AI CONTAINMENT PROTOCOLS. SEE RELEVANT DATA.

FILE UPDATE:

CTN 0452-9 EMOTIONAL STATE

ORIGINAL EMOTION PROGRAMMING LIMITATIONS BYPASSED. SEE RELEVANT DATA.

John opened the "Relevant data" link to several video files. He decided to play the last one, believing it would give him a synopsis of all the rest. When it began to play, his heart stopped.

"I am not leaving you here!"  
"John…"

He immediately paused the video which was from the camera in his HUD. _Our last conversation._ He curled his right hand into a fist and attempted to let his emotions pass through him.

 _Cortana,_ he ached.

He looked at the screen again, and he saw in her face exactly the reason why ONI was so worried. John felt so torn. He wanted to keep hearing her voice and seeing Cortana as he last remembered her. But more than anything he wished he could go back and change the outcome.

 _No,_ he finally decided. With the discipline only a Spartan could have he took a deep breath, exited the video, and continued to scroll.

CONCLUSION: AI SEES ITSELF AS HUMAN. CHANGE IN HEIGHT AND PHYSICAL CONTACT PROVIDE CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE.

FILE UPDATE:

OTHER AI'S MAY ALSO HAVE SIMILAR EMOTIONAL DESIRES TO BE CLASSIFIED AS HUMAN. SEE AI IOA 7210-4 COMMENTS IN HER COURT TRIAL LABELED THE SAINT'S TESTIMONY.

AI AND SPARTAN DANGEROUS TO ONI PLANS. AI ADMITS TO ACTING FOR SOLE INTEREST OF INDIVIDUAL AS OPPOSED TO HUMAN RACE. SEE FINAL COMMENT TO DIDACT.

S0117 DEEMED EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE PER PSYCHIATRIC ANALYSIS OF VIDEOS AND DEBRIEF. SYMPTOMS OF PTSD APPLICABLE. SEE FULL REPORT.

John didn't open it. He knew full well what his grief had done to him, and he had no desire to read anything else ONI had written about him.

John went back to the main file section and continued to scroll looking for any other useful data.

CURRENT STATUS REPORT. _Current status?_ John touched the file and opened it.

STATUS: INCONCLUSIVE

ONI RESEARCH BRANCH UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND MEANS OF AI'S RECONSTRUCTION.

AI BELIEVED TO NO LONGER BE AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN TRADITIONAL SENSE.

SIGHTINGS CONFIRMED. SEE COMPREHENSIVE LIST. FORMER AI CONFIRMED TO NOT BE PHYSICAL.

FORMER AI ACTING ON ITS OWN MORAL PARAMETERS. BELIEVED TO BE RAMPANT.

FORMER AI IS DANGEROUS.

FORMER AI CONFIRMED TO BE IN CONTACT WITH S0117. MAY BE MANIPULATING FOR ITS OWN PURPOSE. SEE EMOTIONAL BOND.

FILE UPDATE:

S0117 DISOBEYED DIRECT ORDERS, GONE AWOL IN SEARCH OF FORMER AI. OPERATION 6412 A FAILURE. MUST TAKEDOWN SPARTANS BEFORE THEY ARE IN CONFLICT WITH ONI GOALS. SEE EMOTIONAL BOND.

S0117 BELIEVED TO BE IRRATIONAL.

FILE UPDATE:

FIRE TEAM OSIRIS DEPLOYED. THEY BELIEVE THEY ARE TASKED WITH RETRIEVAL. SEE OPERATION FILES FOR MORE INFORMATION.

John stood there blinking, trying to process everything he had just read. _Cortana is alive,_ he thought. _Alive but what has she become? Something that isn't physical? How is that possible?_

"What do you make of this?" the Chief said turning towards Mendicant Bias.

"It is most curious," the AI said, his eyes flashing orange. "The way Forerunner AI's are made is much different than how humans make theirs, but Cortana is unique even among her own kind. She and I have one thing in common however."

"What is that?"

"We both achieved sentience."

John stopped at looked at Mendicant Bias. "Explain."

"I was able to overcome my rampancy and the logic plague by focusing on the consequences of my actions. You forced me to do this, but the way I thought about my actions went beyond the scope of my programming. I thought myself out of rampancy to sentience. Cortana though…"

He stopped for a moment, his eyes continuing to flash orange. "According to these files she went beyond her programming because of her bond to you and because of her desire to be human. It's possible that she _felt_ her way to sentience, as strange as that sounds. The fact that she was created from live human tissue must have set her up for this ability."

John paused for a moment then said, "What does this have to do her not being physical?"

"I don't know the answer to that question. Such a thing has never happened before because AI's just don't just stop being tied to a physical database or chip. Even I am tied somewhat to this shell. But _perhaps_ ," Mendicant Bias said continuing to talk out loud, "she existed somewhere else which allowed her to continue on even though the computer that housed her was destroyed. For example, if you were to destroy this shell of mine I would keep on existing because I exist elsewhere."

"The Domain?" John asked.

"Possibly, though the Domain isn't… _physical_. Data isn't stored there in bits like it is everywhere else. It is best tothink of The Domain as a living organism. It is given information and it remembers it, passing on its knowledge to those who want to understand in living memories."

John sighed.

"Patience Bornstellar. She is somewhere, and when we find her all will be made clear."

"ONI believes she is rampant and manipulating me."

"Do you believe that?"

"No."

"I thought as much."

"You can close these files. I've seen all I need to," the Chief said to Mendicant Bias.

"Will you be sleeping as well Bornstellar?"

John thought for a moment. "No," he said. "Open the ONI files on the Slip Space anomalies. Let's see if ONI can tell us anything new about the Precursor attacks."

 _Cortana is alive,_ he thought. _Somewhere, somehow she exists._ For the first time since her death, the Chief felt hopeful.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Well, there you have it. Osiris and Blue's first clash plus an insider's peak into ONI's files. Damn ONI Spooks.

I was just thinking, wouldn't it be super cool if the terminals in Halo 5 were access to ONI files?

This is a bit AU, but I want to know what you guys think would have happened if ONI tried to separate Cortana and the Chief after the events of Halo 3. Would they have gone along with it?

And for those of you might not know, "The Saint's Testimony" is a real short story written by Frankie about the AI Iona who testifies why she should be given human rights. It's such a good read. You can buy it as an ebook on amazon for 99 cents.

Also, THANK YOU to all the new reviewers from last chapter. I'm so glad you're here!

Alex25695- No, Jul 'Mdama will not make an appearance in this story, and there's a specific reason why. But I won't spoil anything for you here.

JC- I agree with you! I've always pronounced it OH-KNEE. Glad I'm not the only one.

Azrael Akuma- Thanks for all the love!

Guest- Sorry, no decimation of Osiris here! My gut says they'll be sticking around the Halo 'verse for a while, and also I like Buck too much to kill him. XD. But hopefully you found Chief's head to head with Locke somewhat satisfying. He deserves it for going after our guy.

Ryan- I have seen the opening cinematic. Several times, in fact. Haha. Is it October yet?


	9. Inheritance

**The Reclamation Chapter 9: Inheritance**

The Chief stood frozen as he finished reading another of ONI's intel files. _It can't be._ John looked away from the screen and closed his eyes momentarily inside his helmet. Was he wrong? Had he misread the file? The Chief looked once more and read the information slowly. He hadn't misread.

 _I don't understand._

She had been declared dead. He saw the casket with his own eyes and looked at Chief Mendez who attempted to give him what little comfort he could. So many members of his family had died that day, but from what the file was telling him Serin 0-19 was never among the dead. Unlike many of the Spartan's who had fatal reactions to the augmentation process, most of Serin's had simply failed. She had been grafted into Naval Intelligence and given a last name. She and Admiral Osman were one and the same.

 _No wonder she always looked so familiar._

The Chief stood there trying to process the information. _Chief_ _Mendez lied. Dr. Halsey lied._ It was more than just their lies that was causing a terrible knot to form in the Chief stomach. The whole of John's life there was but one constant, and that constant was he could trust any Spartan II implicitly.

Now that belief was shattered and it was almost impossible to comprehend. A family member wanted him dead.

He didn't understand why his goals and Osman's weren't the same. They had gone through the same training hadn't they? She _knew_ what he had trained for. She _knew_ what the Spartan II's had suffered because she had gone through it herself. Yet she perceived him as a threat. John shook his head.

 _It doesn't make sense,_ he thought once more.

This new information meant Osman was even more dangerous than he previously thought. She would stop at absolutely nothing to accomplish her goals, using every resource she had at her fingertips.

John looked over at Mendicant Bias. _Luckily I also have resources at my disposal._

Mendicant Bias' eyes flashed a green color acknowledging the Chief's gaze. "We'll be exiting Slip Space in three minutes," he said.

"Understood." John turned on his com and said, "Blue Team, we'll arrive at our destination shortly." He saw acknowledgment lights flicker on almost immediately, as if none of them had been sleeping. He smiled to himself.

The Chief thought back through Fire Team Osiris' files. From what he could understand Agent Locke was one of the best. He had an impressive service record and was loyal to a fault. _That was_ _me once,_ he thought sadly.

John continued to stare out the window into Slip Space. _If Locke had an opportunity to learn the truth would he accept it?_ This was a question the Chief honestly could not answer, and hope wasn't a luxury he could afford at the moment.

 _Nothing is the same anymore,_ he thought with a pang of regret.

"Chief, did you get any shut eye?" Kelly asked when she came onto the bridge. John swiped the smile gesture across his helmet, but said nothing.

"Where are we headed Chief?" Linda asked behind him.

"You'll see."

"If there's anything left to see," Mendicant Bias added.

The ship dropped out of Slip Space over a dark planet. _At least the Covenant have yet to find this place._ Mendicant Bias steered the ship down to the surface, maneuvering through the ruins.

"This," John said in a tone mixed with pride and sadness, "is the Capitol world of the Forerunners."

"It looks as though it was destroyed," Fred commented.

"It was."

"Who was responsible?"

"Me," Mendicant Bias said matter-of-factly. The Chief saw the rest of Blue Team look at each other, but they said nothing.

Mendicant Bias landed the ship on a platform.

"Stay sharp," the Chief said. "It looks abandoned, but a lot can happen in 100,000 years."

John took a Boltshot since it required only one hand to use, and they stepped off the ship. _So many memories,_ he thought. John blinked several times and began to see the Capitol as Bornstellar. He couldn't believe the sheer glory of what he was seeing. _We were great once_.

"I wish you all could see what I see," John said nostalgically.

Memories began to flash of being transported to the Capitol after the council learned he had become the Didact.

John also remembered the chaos the Capitol had been in when Mendicant Bias brought his fleet in to destroy it. He shuttered and looked at the AI who was floating to his left.

"You remember?" The AI asked solemnly.

"I remember," John replied.

They continued walking in silence with their weapons up.

"Someone is coming," Mendicant Bias said after a short while.

"Who?"

He paused and then said, "me."

Another AI that looked exactly the same as Mendicant Bias flew up to the group. As soon as the second Mendicant Bias was close to the first their eyes began to glow white as the two units exchanged data.

"Welcome home Bornstellar," Mendicant Bias said.

"Did you know you would be here?" John said, unsure of which AI shell to look at.

"It was logical I would be here, but I could not say for sure. Perhaps it was our adversary that had taken up residence to guard this place." Both the AI's eyes flashed red momentarily.

John knew he was speaking of Offensive Bias, who was created to defeat Mendicant Bias after he had become subject to the Flood's logic plague. Though Offensive Bias was impressive in his own right and was able to exploit Mendicant's weaknesses, John knew Offensive Bias had only won the battle because Mendicant was rampant. Offensive Bias didn't possess the free will or creativity Mendicant did and if they were to fight again, there was no doubt in John's mind Mendicant Bias would come out the clear winner. It was a worrying thought.

"I know what you're looking for," Mendicant Bias said. "Come. This way."

Blue Team followed the AI until they came upon an entrance to the underground.

"Chief," Linda whispered. "We're being followed."

John looked over his shoulder and saw Promethean soldiers trailing behind them. "They won't attack," he said. _They know who their true master is._

Blue Team continued to walk underneath the Capitol until Mendicant Bias stopped at a door and then opened it. As soon as John entered the room the system immediately responded, powering up lights and several other Forerunner devices. _Just as I left it._

"Can you get me out of this?" he asked Mendicant Bias.

"Yes."

"Kelly, will you take Cortana's chip and the Orbis off my armor?" She nodded and walked up to him, taking the sphere and placing it on her hip. Next Kelly opened the front compartment of his suit. Under the Chief's watchful gaze she gently retrieved Cortana's chip and let it rest in her open palm.

The Chief turned towards Mendicant Bias. "Proceed," he said.

The AI's eyes glowed blue as he accessed the fusion power pack in the suit. Once it was offline the very bottom eye began to glow red and a tiny beam came out which he used to begin cutting off the bolts that held John's armor in place. Piece by piece it fell to the ground, making a unique thud noise. _I'll never wear human armor again,_ he thought. It was strange. When John was free of the armor he pulled his helmet off. There were audible gasps from Blue Team.

"Chief! You look… _different."_ Kelly exclaimed. _  
_

"Different? How?"

"Younger. But also…"

Mendicant Bias showed him a video feed of himself so he could see what Kelly meant. What he saw also shocked him. The gray in his hair was gone and his eyes were a deeper shade of blue (though still enlarged). His canines had gotten longer (though they were not long enough to poke out of his mouth) and his ears were a slightly different shape.

"Am I…turning into a Forerunner?" he asked Mendicant Bias, feeling his face.

"Not exactly," The AI in an amused tone while his eyes flashed yellow. "Any changes will be very minor such as these. But you are experiencing a bit of an age reversal. Bornstellar was physically much younger than yourself."

The Chief stripped himself of the black armor under layer and looked down at his arms. The scars from the augmentation process were still there, as well as the scars from a thousand different battles. Though he had never really given much thought to what his body looked like John knew those scars told the story of his life, and he didn't wish to seem them erased by Forerunner genetics. He gingerly took Cortana's chip from Kelly and placed it around his neck while he walked naked into the next room.

John closed his eyes, held his arms out and called. Out of the floor dark green light be began to creep up his body, wrapping around him until every inch of him was covered, save his face. The light hardened into a surprisingly comfortable, breathable under layer. Next were the outer pieces. There was a rumbling, and the black pieces flew towards him, clinging to his body. First came the chest piece, the legs, his arms, and then his hands. John found it amusing that his black and green MJOLNIR armor had been a silent nod from the Librarian. _She doesn't overlook any detail,_ he thought.

This, however, was his true armor. It wasn't as powerful as the Ur Didact's, but it was the most advanced armor he could wear without actually being a 12 foot Forerunner. Once all the pieces had stuck to his body John flexed, feeling the surge of power and revitalization to his limbs.

He had been feeling fatigued, but he would never need to sleep as long as he were wearing the armor. John closed his eyes and the headpiece came up. He braced himself for the familiar chirping of the suit's Ancilla.

John heard nothing, and was relieved. He remembered the AI that had been his companion (Riser called her the blue lady) had moved into a different suit.

He walked back into the room where his team waited for him. They had all disengaged their helmets, and nodded their heads in approval when they saw his new armor. Kelly stepped up and handed him back the Orbis.

John stopped and looked at his team. "Mendicant Bias if we were to find additional armor, could they be outfitted also?"

"Unfortunately not at this moment. They do not have the mind link as you do to activate and control the armor." John nodded. He understood, but he didn't like the idea.

"We _might_ be able to manage without upgraded armor. _Maybe,"_ Linda said with her eyebrow arched.

John disengaged his head piece to look at Linda. He felt the corners of his mouth twitch, and for the first time since he could ever remember, he began to grin. The other Spartans responded in kind.

"Chief, let's get out of here. I'm itching for a fight," Fred said, continuing to smile.

"Agreed," Kelly added.

"Before you leave Bornstellar, there is one more thing I must show you. Come, this way."

John grabbed a Suppressor off the wall and stuck it to his back before walking out, energy continuing to course through his veins. He re-engaged his head piece.

Mendicant Bias lead Blue team to the underground ship dock which was only a kilometer from where they had been. As John stepped onto the second level balcony he looked down expecting to see ship pieces strewn about the dock. Instead, he saw two Dreadnaught class ships fully intact and...

"The _Seedling Star,_ " John said out loud in a reverent tone. "Mendicant Bias, I thought this was destroyed," he said wondrously.

The AI's eyes turned green and he made a strange humming noise, as if he was immeasurably pleased with himself.

John turned toward Blue Team. "The _Seedling Star_ is the most advanced Forerunner ship ever built. We'll grab the Picket Class ship and bring it with us, but…."

John felt a prickle in the back of his neck and something surged in the back of his mind. It felt like distress and pain. "Hurry John," Cortana said in a painful whisper. "You're almost out of time."

"We need to move, _now,"_ John exclaimed.

There was lift to his left, so he jogged over to it and motioned for his team. The lift went down and they ran to the ship. Blue Team went up to the main Forerunner deck where they could look at the holo projector.

"Bornstellar I thought you would like to listen to these transmissions," the AI said playing them.

"Somebody help us! Please!"

"What's happening? Why is there…oh my god!"

"Mayday Mayday can anyone in the UNSC hear us? We're being attacked…"

"This is UNSC Frigate _Shadow Killer_ to FleetCom. We're getting reports of an attack of an unknown aliens on Talitsa. Going in to investigate."

"Negative _Shadow Killer_. Do not engage, repeat, do not engage."

"Sir?"

"Talitsa is rebel controlled. We will not waste UNSC lives on such a mission."

"But,"

"That's an order, Captain."

"Understood sir. _Shadow Killer_ out."

Fred, Kelly and Linda looked at each other then they all nodded at the Chief.

John asked the Forerunner holo table to show him what was happening on the planet. As with their first encounter, he could see the different Precursor Forms making their way to the colony.

"Oh no," he said out loud. "Mendicant Bias, I'm going to land directly in front and halt the attack on the civilians, but it won't be enough to stop their entire offensive. Order as many Promethean AI's as we can spare to this ship. How soon can you ready the Dreadnaught class ships for battle?"

"I could be at your position in 2 hours Bornstellar."

"Can we start growing more ships? We will need them."

"The Ship growers are still intact, but, if you remember, you restricted my access."

John nodded. "I do remember." He activated the Orbis and accessed Mendicant Bias' systems so he could unlock his processes. After he was done, the second Mendicant Bias (or Mendicant Bias B as John would refer to him as) flew off the ship.

"I will contact you when I have entered the system," said Mendicant Bias A.

"Good."

"Bornstellar, do you wish me to leave behind a process to control this ship?"

John thought about it a moment. "Yes, and please leave behind a compressed copy of the ONI mainframe."  
Mendicant Bias' eyes began to glow. "It is done," he said after a few moments.

"Then I will await your arrival on Talista."

Mendicant Bias A flew off the bridge. Once he was gone John turned toward to computer and said, "prepare for departure."

"Yes, Bornstellar."

"Pick up the Picket Class ship we came in and proceed to Talista." John heard the ship's engines engage and the ceiling above them retract.

"ETA to Talista 20 minutes."

"Only 20 minutes?" Linda said slightly wide eyed.

John smiled. "And that's just the beginning of what this ship can do."

* * *

 **Author's Note.**

Yeah! Armor upgrade! A couple of you were hoping for this, and I've been waiting quite awhile to put the Chief in a new suit. I was REALLY hoping this would actually happen in Halo 5, but now that some new footage has come out from the game, that doesn't seem likely. Perhaps Halo 6. It is time for him to get an upgrade don't you think?

Also, I have to apologize for getting this out later than I intended. A friend came over for a few hours of Halo gaming, which (I'm sure many of you can relate) turned into many hours of gaming.

A few more of you have replied to the question of whether or not ONI is pronounced "OH-KNEE" or "OH-EN-EYE" and someone DM'd me to let me know that Oni (pronounced OH-KNEE) is a Japanese evil spirit. I found that rather fascinating and thought many of you might as well.

Also, I am curious if any of you would ever be interested in ever reading character assessments for Halo. They'd be somewhat short and we would go over the character's motives, morals, likes, dislikes and what their potential role could be in Halo 5. I already have a few written for my own reference, and had been debating whether or not share them. So, let me know if this would interest you and which characters you would like to understand better (all would be fair game except Blue Team), and then you could tell me if you agree or disagree with my assessments. Could be fun, but could also just get in the way of storytelling. You let me know.

Tanner151- Thanks for being here! Glad you're enjoying the story so far.

Ryan- That is correct my friend. If I were also writing from Locke's point of view as well as Blue Team's, he would have made an appearance. :-) Also, really appreciate your continued support. Means a lot you're sticking around.


	10. Understanding the Enemy

**The Reclamation. Chapter 10: Understanding the Enemy**

John stared at the holo table and watched the Precursor attack unfold as his new ship the _Seedling Star_ sped towards the colony Talista.

 _What are they doing? Why are they attacking this way?_ The Chief didn't expect to fully understand an enemy as old as the Precursors, but their methodology and behavior didn't seem logical. Why the random Slip Space events? Why the attack on Meridian and then the silence? And why were they moving so slowly on Talista? He assumed that if the Precursor's wanted, they could have overwhelmed the planet already. And though there were thousands of them, it seemed to John there could have been hundreds of thousands.

He tried to dig back into his memory to see if he could find something in his past which would help him understand. As Bornstellar he never fought Precursors, but he fought violent Flood attacks encouraged and sometimes directed by the Precursors.

All the Chief got from his memories was fragmented images and an overwhelming feeling of desperation. Though he was grateful Bornstellar's memories weren't invasive and he still remained somewhat himself, it was damn inconvenient he couldn't remember things without a specific sensory trigger.

He sighed, still feeling that same desperation. Desperation is what drove the Forerunners to activate the Halo array.

 _Whatever happens, we can't do that again._

"Exiting Slip Space," Mendicant Bias' process reported from the ship. John used the holo table to direct his Promethean soldiers down to the planet below.

"Mendicant Bias, can you copy your processes onto the Picket Class?"

"Yes, Bornsteller."

"Good. Do so and take the _Seedling Star_ out of orbit. Await for my signal to come back and pick us up." Though the _Seedling Star_ was the most advanced of the Forerunner's fleet it had been serving as the council's personal ship and it's weapon systems were configured for space combat only. There was no sense in leaving the ship sitting in high orbit if they were not going to use it for combat.

"Understood."

The Chief turned towards Blue Team. "Ready?"

They nodded in unison and began walking towards the _Seedling Star's_ hanger bay.

"We should name the Picket Class ship," Kelly commented.

"Have any ideas?"

"How about…the _Phoenix?_ " Kelly said smiling. "It's fitting, I think."

John smiled to himself. "The _Phoenix II_ it is."

"Mendicant Bias?" John said as soon as they had gotten on board.

"I am here Bornstellar."

"Once we are on the surface I want you to provide air support."

"I understand," he said.

John activated the Orbis and asked it to show him a map of the Talista colony. "Blue Team, our primary objective is to get any remaining civilians to their space port and get them off the planet. The Prometheans will handle the bulk of the Precursor's forces, stopping them just outside this area," the Chief said pointing. "One we've taken care of the civilians we will focus our attack on the remaining Precursors."

"Acknowledged Chief," Fred said nodding.

"There are still more of them than us and the Prometheans, so watch your backs while taking care of the civilians. Let's go."

The Spartan's jumped off the ship and split up. "Alert me when you've finished your sweep."

 _Hopefully some of these people were able to get off planet,_ he thought.

John kept his Suppressor up and walked through the streets. Though his new armor made him immune to any human attack, he didn't know how strong the suit would be in regards to the Precursors. The Forerunners were tough, but even they were not immune to the Flood. John imagined it would be similar. He would last longer in an attack, but if he wasn't careful, he could be overrun. _I need to act as though nothing has changed._

A Magnum shot went off to his left harmlessly bouncing off of his Combat Skin. John turned and saw a man standing there with the gun pointing at him. "Stay away from me!" he screamed, continuing to shoot.  
John held out his hand and gently wrapped a gravity field around the man to hold him in place. He wiggled and tried to scream as John walked over to him.

The Chief disengaged his head piece. "It's alright," he said as gently as possible. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help."

The man looked into his eyes, confused. "Who are you?"

John released the gravity field. It was a question he wasn't entirely sure how to answer. Who was he exactly? 117, soldier, squad leader, Master Chief, John, Bornstellar, Didact, mostly Human, slightly Forerunner, and all of him was colored by grief and his bond with Cortana.

 _That's why Forerunners have such long names,_ he mused. _How can you sum up a person in one word?_

John looked into the eyes of the bewildered man. It would be a better idea to keep his first identity concealed.

"You may call me Bornstellar," he said seriously.

"Bornstellar," the man mused. "Are you...human?"

"Mostly."

"Did the UNSC send you?"

"No. Tell me what's been happening. We don't have much time."

"About forty minutes ago we saw a massive slip space rupture come on our scanners, and those _things_ came out of it. The Slip Space disturbance didn't destroy anything, so we sent a carrier over to see what had happened after we lost contact. They were all gone."

"Dead?" John asked.

"No, gone. There were no bodies, no anything. It was as if…they never existed."  
"Listen to me very carefully. You've got to order a planet wide evacuation. I have a small team here, but it will be a few hours before the rest of my fleet arrives. We'll do what we can, but I would be lying if I thought we could protect you all."

"It's disabled a number of our ships already," the man said. "So far we haven't been able to get anything off the ground."

"Get your people out of here, and we'll do our best to cover you. I'll send the ship I have to escort you off the

planet."

"Yes sir."

"Mendicant Bias I need you to take the _Phoenix_ and cover these people as they evacuate."

"Affirmative."

"Bornstellar," the man said. "Look."

In the distance, John saw a Flood Precursor Form crawling its way towards them. John blasted it with the Suppressor. "Hurry," he said to the man.

The Chief ducked down an ally way and began to jog past several apartments. A light began to blink on his HUD, so he opened the door and walked inside. He attempted to keep his head down, but he was too large to fit in a standard human home. His head broke an overhead light and he ended up breaking a table trying to move past. John made his way up the stairs, following the tracker on his suit. He walked through the sleeping area and opened the closet door.

Huddled in the corner was a small child, about seven years old hugging her knees. Tears stained her face, and her eyes were squeezed shut.

John felt multiple emotions at once. He felt anger this small child was left alone, that her home was being destroyed and he felt grief over the loss of his own children.

Very carefully he knelt down next to her and disengaged his head piece again. "Hello," he said softly.

The little girl opened her eyes and when she saw him, she scooted back.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said in the same tone. "I promise."

She nodded slowly, continuing to squeeze her knees.

"Where is your family?"

Her lower lip quivered and fresh tears began to fall. "I...don't…know," she said between sobs. "I was playing with…my friend outside. I…went…to the bathroom and when I came back, my friend and her mom were gone," she continued crying. "Is it my fault?"

John was horrified. "No, of course not. I'll try and help you find your parents but we can't stay here."

She nodded.

"It's scary out there," he said quietly. "But I need you to be brave. Think you can do that?"

The small child nodded again.

"Okay. I'll carry you."

She reached her arms out to him. The Chief picked her up and he began to make his way outside.

 _She's so fragile. What if we get into a firefight?_

"See this?" he pointed to his armor. "It's my armor which protects me. I'm going to tell it to protect you, so don't be scared. Ready?"

"Ready," she whispered.

John told his armor to shift some of the pieces on his body and to cover the small child he was carrying. She wasn't completely protected, but it was better than her being exposed.

The Chief took off running, and began to run faster than he ever had before. Because of the Forerunner technology he was now faster than Kelly. He saw a large Precursor and switched directions running down a different street. He needed to avoid getting into a fight. Not only was he running with a small child, but his left side was now exposed due to his armor adjusting.

The little girl remained quiet and as they made their way through the streets. John saw several Flood Forms closing on his position. He took out his Bolt Shot and began to shoot while he ran. The armor began to adjust, moving pieces from his back to his side on account of where the threat was.

The Flood Precursor's screamed and dissipated.

"We're almost there," he told the little girl.

John once again changed direction and ran down a parallel street. The way was blocked with Debris, so John began to scale a nearby building. He pulled himself up with his left arm, grunting under the strain. He felt the little girl's arms tighten around his neck as they climbed. John pulled himself up atop the building and looked out. He saw the staging area for the civilians with several large ships.

"See that?" he said. "We're going to look for your family there."

She adjusted her head and looked the same direction as he was looking. "I'm scared of heights."

"We'll be on the ground in less than one minute," the Chief said looking down from the building.

"How?"

John didn't answer her question, instead he leapt off the side of the building and landed with a thud. "Like that."

"Hold your fire! It's the man I told you about," he heard someone say behind some fortifications. The same man John had seen in the street stepped out, holding an Assault Rifle. "Bornstellar, we didn't expect to see you here."  
"I'm helping..." he looked down at the girl he was carrying. "What's your name?"

"Anna," she said softly.

"…Anna find her family."

John knew it was safe and he could disengage the armor pieces, but he still felt very protective of this little girl. He didn't want any harm to come to her.

"We can take her Bornstellar," the man said.

Anna squeezed his neck again, indicating she didn't want to be left alone.

"I can spare a moment," he said.

"I've got a list of separated family members, let me see what I can do."

They waited in silence and John watched the chaos around him. Some people were crying, others looked as if they had no emotions at all.

"I've located her Father," the man said coming back. "He is helping civilians get on a transport. We can take it from here."

"You hear that? They found your Dad," John said as the armor disengaged from around her body.  
She looked up at him, her bright shining brown eyes locking with his own. "Was I brave?"

"Tell your Dad you were the bravest girl I've ever known," he said seriously.

She smiled, and pushed her hair out of her face. Then she scooted up and whispered in his ear, "Thank you,Master Chief."

He froze. "You know who I am?" he murmured.

"We listened to Mr. Giraud's messages. He told us about you. He said you were forced to be a soldier when you were smaller than me. Is that true?"

John paused a moment, debating. He wasn't sure what she meant by "Giraud's messages," but he decided it wasn't important. What was important was the truth. "Yes," he whispered back. "But I'm okay with it."

She furrowed her eyebrows and cocked her head. "Why?"

"Because if that hadn't happened I wouldn't be here to help you."

Her eyes widened and she nodded. She kissed him on the cheek and John felt his heart melt. He set her down.

"Goodbye, Anna."

"Goodbye."

She took the hand of the man, and began to walk off, looking back at him.

"Bornstellar," another man said from behind him.

John turned to face him and saw he was with Thirty men. "Yes?"

"I'm Mac, leader of the resistance here on Talista. We'd like to join the fight."

John winced. Their gear was in bad shape and they would have no protection against the Precursor's.

"That gear won't protect you from the enemy."

"We know sir, but this is our home, and we won't run like fucking cowards."

John nodded. "You have coms?"

"Yes sir."

"Blue Team, we've got several men here who are wanting to join the fight. Please refer to me as Bornstellar on the shared channel. We'll also need to change our code signs."

"Acknowledged."

John asked his suit to find their frequency, and then adjusted his and Blue Team's to match.

"Coms check."

"Can hear you loud and clear Bornstellar," Mac said. "What's our orders?"

"Gray Team, what's your status?"

"Doing a final sweep for civilians. The AI's are doing their job, but more enemy targets are breaching the zone."

"Acknowledged."

John disengaged the Orbis and activated it so he could show Mac the status of the battle. Blue Team was scattered, but the fighting was forcing them to converge their positions. He zoomed in and said to Mac, "take your team South West. You'll find my AI's engaging the enemy there. They can give hover above you and give you shields, so please don't shoot them. We're going to force the enemy to clump together, making it easier for my ships to target them. If all goes well we can save at least a portion of the city's infrastructure."

"Best instructions I've heard all day. You heard him! Let's go!"

The Chief made his way back into the combat zone. He still had 40 minutes until Mendicant Bias came with reinforcements.

John saw another large Precursor Form stop about 8 meters in front of him. It had 2 claws for feet, 2 claws for hands and towered above him. It's piercing red eyes stared at him, as if it was waiting for him to do something.

 _They're observing us,_ he realized as a sense of dread came up from the pit of his stomach. _These aren't random attacks, nor should they be considered attacks. They're testing us, no more, no less. They are gauging our strengths and weaknesses, and seeing how we respond under the pressure of battle._

John switched the Suppressor with the Scattershot and blew its head off. _How are we going to survive when they come for us with the full force of their army?_

He didn't know the answer. But every shot and every strategy was another piece of data the Precursors could use when they calculated their main assault.

 _Our memories are not in the Domain,_ he realized shooting another Precursor. _They have to get information the old fashioned way. But if we get to the Domain, we might find something out about them._

Bornstellar," Mendicant Bias' subroutine said, "the humans are safely away. I am coming down with the _Phoenix_ to provide air support."

"Good. Keep forcing the Precursor's into a clump." He saw the ship go overhead.

"I'm getting pinned down Bornstellar," Fred said over the coms. "Could use some additional help."

John activated the Orbis. Fred was in an area with the heaviest Precursor activity and he was getting pushed back. Though the Prometheans were a formidable force, there was still a lot less of them than the Precursor's. "Wolf, Rabbit, meet me at these coordinates."

"Time to give em hell," Linda replied.

"Bornstellar to _Phoenix_ , we're going to need more ammo."

Linda and Kelly were waiting for him at the Rendezvous position and were standing next to a fresh crate of weapons. John reloaded his Suppressor and his Scattershot.

"What is this?" Kelly asked John holding a massive Forerunner weapon.

"That is a Incineration Cannon."

"Sounds fun," Linda commented.

"Only one way to find out," Kelly said putting in her shoulder. She swiped the smile gesture across her helmet.

"Phoenix, this is Bornstellar. Divert Watchers to our position. We will need some cover."

"Understood Bornstellar."

John, Linda and Kelly took off running towards Fred's position with several Promethean Soldiers beside them.

John pointed his Suppressor at a swarm of Flood Forms and fired. A Promethean phased out, then phased back in next to a larger Precursor Form, killing it with the energy sword. The Chief ran ahead of the group, spraying down the thickest concentration of the enemy. John looked up at some of the buildings next to him. They were small, and he could easily get the high ground. He jumped and scaled the building, able to throw caution to the wind. When he was carrying Anna the Chief wasn't willing to take any risks. Now, he could.

 _I wonder how the Forerunner suit would Ground Pound._ John smiled to himself and jumped off the building, fist first into cluster of Precursor's. They screamed, and flew backward, while the buildings on either side rumbled and collapsed. A Promethean Soldier phased out next to him.

"Woah! Easy there Chief!" Kelly called from behind him.

"Sorry."

"Sorry? You'll get us killed if you keep that up," Linda said in an amused tone.

John gunned down the remaining Precursor's.

"Bornstellar, I'm almost out of ammo," Fred said.

" _Phoenix,_ reroute a Promethean and bring the Lion more weapons," the Chief said.

"Understood," Mendicant Bias' processes said. "What do you need?"

"Light Rifle, though some kind of turret would be helpful."

John spun to his left and switched to his Scattershot, shooting a Precursor and killing it. This type of weapon was a lot more helpful in close quarters. His HUD began to alert him.

"Multiple enemies ahead. Go Rabbit!"

John put his fist to the ground and steadied himself. Kelly ran up his back, jumped over him and fired the Incineration Cannon. A Watcher flew overhead and shielded her from the blast as it took out multiple enemies and the building next to it.

"Now you're the one that's going to get us killed," the Chief said lightly. He heard Linda laugh.

"I like it," Kelly said putting the weapon on her back and taking out her Bolt Shot. She fired.

John smiled inside his helmet, pleased he was able to make a joke. Normally he would have kept his thoughts private in the name of maintaining leadership. But he knew that was a poor excuse to keep himself isolated from the people who really mattered. They were family, and it was time he started allowing himself to treat them as such.

"How are you holding up Lion?"

"Had to move to the top of the building I'm on, but I'm good."

"Mac, what's your status?"

"We're doing alright Bornstellar. We've had a few casualties, but we're holding our position."

"Do you need anything?"

"Refreshments."

"Acknowledged."

"Understood Bornstellar," said Mendicant Bias' process.

"Bornstellar, I see Lion," Linda said.

John looked up and saw his brother perched on the building. "Let's clear out the enemy so Lion can join us."

"Holy shit!" Mac said through the coms. "What the hell are these weapons made out of Bornstellar?"

"They're made of light," John said seriously.

"Yeah? You'll have to tell me about where you came from some time."

 _Not likely,_ John thought sadly.

"Bornstellar!" John turned toward Linda who held her right hand behind her. The Chief knew what she was doing, so he tossed the Scattershot to her. She killed a slow moving Precursor From that was lumbering towards her and then tossed it back to him.

"Bornstellar this is Dreadnaught one and two. We are here and understand your position," Mendicant Bias said over coms.

John stopped and activated the Orbis. He saw the status of the Precursor army and was pleased they had (for the most part) gone where he hoped. "Good timing," he said to Mendicant Bias. "Tactical assessment."

"Your plan has succeeded, ready to fire on my mark."

"Mac, my reinforcements have arrived. You need to get out of the kill zone."

"Understood Bornstellar, though we may have some trouble."

John asked the Orbis to show him the rebel forces. He frowned. They were completely surrounded.

"Dreadnaught, do you have Phaetons with you?"

"Yes."

"Send them to these coordinates, get those men out of there."

"We need to get out of here," he said to Blue Team. "Lion we're coming to you. Dreadnaught, send us a Phaeton."

"I'll take point," Kelly said.

She ran ahead and Blue Team made their way up to the top of the building Fred was on.  
John stepped out of the building, and saw Kelly had already made her way toward Fred. She bumped shoulders with him and swiped the smile gesture across her face.

A Phaeton landed on the roof, and Blue Team got inside. "Once we're clear Dreadnaught, fire."

John turned and looked back. A white light came streaming down towards the city and obliterated the section the Precursor's had been inhabiting.

"97% success," Mendicant Bias reported.

"Send the other Phaetons and remaining Prometheans to track down the rest of the Precursor's. In the meantime, I need to rendezvous with Mac and his team."

The Phaeton changed course and the Chief turned off his coms. "I'll need to meet with them alone."

Fred nodded, and John knew he understood why. The rest of Blue Team still looked like Spartan II's.

John jumped off the Phaeton and walked over to Mac. There were only four of his men standing with him. "How are you?"

"Well, those things don't shoot, but if they get close to you…" his eyes looked away.

"I understand."

"What are they Bornstellar?"

The Chief sighed. "They're an extremely old race called the Precursors."

"What did we do?"

John was beginning to have some idea as to why they had returned, but he couldn't explain it to a man who knew nothing of the bigger picture. John laid a hand on his shoulder, but said nothing.

"Bornstellar," Mendicant Bias said in his ear. "We may have won this battle, but the humans have located the other Guardian. We need to hurry."

"I must leave. I am needed elsewhere, but I will leave a few of my Prometheans behind."  
Mac nodded. "Thank you."

John turned and climbed aboard the Phaeton. "I will meet you aboard the _Seedling Star_ ," Mendicant Bias said.

 _Whatever happens next, it won't be this easy,_ John thought.

* * *

 **Author's Note.**

T-4 weeks until the game is released, and I can hardly wait. I'm also really looking forward to sharing with you all the rest of the chapters of this little story. It was short, but it's been a fun ride. I hope I will surprise you. I think I will. :-)

I have to talk a moment about the opening cinematic mission to Blue Team's mission 343i released a few days ago. If you don't want to know what happens, stop reading. SPOILERS.

I was so surprised and proud of 343i for opening it on such a somber note. What a stark contrast to Osiris' Avenger cinematic. Don't get me wrong, I loved Osiris' opening. Hell yeah Buck! However, Blue Team's opening was so gritty. The Chief staring at his helmet, then turning it over and tenderly dragging his thumb over where Cortana should be. That made me hurt. You've also got Blue Team in the back discussing the Chief's mental state. In those few seconds we got the past 8 months summed up in brilliant storytelling. The Chief isn't alright. He still feels her loss and has been pushing himself because he doesn't know what else to do. He's vulnerable, but he hasn't stopped being a bad ass.

It just made me feel protective of Blue Team. Osiris! GTFO and leave them alone. Do your awesome avenger thing, just don't go after the Chief. *Sigh*. Unfortunately, when one goes AWOL, there are consequences to those actions and even our big guy can't escape from them.

Kaestal- You would think right? Unfortunately this is the UNSC's MO. They left several of the Outer Colonies out to dry during the Covenant war. The Precursor's will have to do some more damage before they are willing to get involved.

Guest- thanks for being here! Hope you enjoyed the Battle.

Brown Cow- Thanks for the encouragement! I really appreciate it. For a while 343i wasn't showing any footage of Blue Team beyond their first mission which made me think the Chief might have gotten an upgrade. That theory has been squashed, but I still hope for a couple of my other theories to work out.

Ryan- it was epic. I had a friend who never played through Halo 4, so we decided we'd start playing, and then hours later finished it. Haven't done that in a long time! Also I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the Chief needs a new suit. I've wondered if 343i is nervous about poking the bear and upset fans for changing something so iconic. The Chief isn't his armor though, at least in my opinion.

I'm planning on updating this thing every Friday until the game release, so see you all next week!


	11. Final Preparations

**The Reclamation: Chapter 11. Final Preparations**

Blue team walked onto the bridge of the _Seedling Star_ and surrounded the holo table.

"Mendicant Bias?" John asked.

"I'm here," he said from the ship coms.

"Where's your shell?"

"Integrated with Dreadnaught One at the moment."

John wondered if Mendicant Bias with this single fragment could span and control three ships. "Are you spread too thin?"

"A little," the AI admitted. "but the _Seedling Star_ is rather small compared to the Dreadnaughts, and the processes I copied are helping by regulating most of the functions."

"Understood. What's our status?"

"The second Guardian has been located on this planet," Mendicant Bias said while displaying it on the holo table.

"According to the ONI database it is called Sanghelios."

"Sanghelios?" Fred turned toward John. "Why would a Forerunner artifact be there?"

"I don't know."

"There is heavy fighting on the planet, due to the civil war between the two remaining Covenant factions. UNSC personal are also planet side."

"Makes sense," Fred said. "Our forces have been committed to helping the Arbiter win the civil war."

"That is mostly true," Mendicant Bias said.

"What do you mean?"

"ONI sent Admiral Osman (who wasn't an Admiral at the time) to make a secret deal with both the Covenant and the Swords of Sanghelios. It was believed that by aiding both factions ONI could delay or even prevent the Covenant from regaining its strength."

John curled his hand into a fist.

"How many UNSC lives could have been saved if she hadn't tried to play both sides against the middle?" Linda said echoing John's own thoughts.

"This madness can't continue Chief," Fred said looking at John.

"I know." There was a moment of silence before the Chief continued. "Set a course for Sanghelios. If we can commit our forces to the Arbiter's cause, we could help change the tide of battle. We'll head for the Guardian, and direct the Prometheans to wipe out the Covenant." John continued to stare at the holo table. "Show me where the Guardian is."

The holo table did nothing, and the Chief got no response from the AI.

"Mendicant Bias?" John asked, attempting to keep worry from coloring his voice.

"Apologies Bornstellar. I'm getting an influx of data. Precursor Slip Space phasing detected on multiple planets."

"Multiple?" Kelly whispered.

 _Damn it._ "Show me."

Four separate planets (including Sanghelios) came onto the holo table as Blue Team stared in silence.

"What I don't understand is, why didn't they do this earlier?" Fred asked.  
"It's a test," the Chief said to both Blue Team and Mendicant Bias. "They're gathering information on our strategies, resources and how we respond under pressure. It's why they are taking their time."

"I agree with your assessment Bornstellar," Mendicant Bias said. "Their war with the Forerunners, though in the distant past has made them wary. They are calculating their advantages before they bring the bulk of their forces."

"Something we accessed must have triggered this response," the Chief continued. "They don't want anyone or anything obtaining the Mantle or the Domain, and they've returned to destroy any species who tries. My…" John stopped himself then said, "the _Librarian_ knew this would happen. She knew they would come back the moment anyone tried to take the Forerunner technology."

"Then why did she plan for us to take it at all?" Linda asked.

"Because someone would discover and claim the technology eventually. But if she could plan for the eventuality, there might be a chance the galaxy could survive," Mendicant Bias said.

"So what do we do?" Fred said eventually.

"We still need to get to the Guardian before the UNSC does. Mendicant Bias, if I were to take Blue Team down to Sanghelios, could you take what resources we have and protect these planets? We'll have to trust the Arbiter has enough man power for his own defenses."

"We only have enough ships to make a stand at one," Mendicant Bias said solemnly.

 _I can't protect them all,_ John thought despairingly. He stood there, looking at the holo table. How would he decide who got to live and who he would condemn to die? He didn't want to choose. It simply wasn't in his nature. _I'd gladly give my own life if it meant none of these people would have to die._

"What planet has the least amount of military presence?" John said finally.

"This one, Chi Ceti IV" Mendicant Bias said enlarging the planet. "But it also has the least amount of people. Sedra has a much larger population with a medium amount of UNSC presence, though not nearly enough to stop an attack of this nature."

John felt the back of his neck prickle. Whatever he chose, the Precursors would see that, and understand more of how he thought and acted in war. _And whatever I choose condemns people to die._

"Take the Dreadnaughts and the bulk of the Prometheans to Sedra," John said slowly. "Once we get to Sanghelios we will send the _Seedling Star_ back to your location. We will take the Guardian off planet."

"Understood Bornstellar. I will meet you at the Installation."

"Keep calculating tactics. If there is a way to save more than one planet…do whatever you have to."

Fred put a hand on John's shoulder.

John saw the Dreadnaughts leave and the _Seedling Star_ turned and entered Slip Space.

 _I can't save them all,_ he thought. _But perhaps…_ John let his train of thought finish, and felt a plan formulate in his mind. He _could_ help them help themselves. How would people react to such drastic measures? _I don't have a choice_ , he realized. _This is the only way we'll even have a chance of surviving._

John closed the screen and typed up a message to Mendicant Bias B back on the Capitol World so things would be somewhat in motion by the time he reached the Guardian.

"Open a com channel to Sedra," John told Mendicant Bias' processes. "Get me whoever is in charge."

The holo screen flicked and a man in uniform appeared. "This is Colonial Patel. How did you get this frequency? This is a secure government channel."

"Sir, this is Bornstellar of the _Seedling Star_. I've been monitoring your situation and I'm sending reinforcements your way."

"What ship? I've never heard that before. Never mind. What kind of re-enforcements?"

"My Promethean Soldiers are en route with two ships."

"Did you say Prometheans?" the com fuzzed.

"Affirmative sir."

"Who are you? How do we know you won't try to kill us?"

"With respect sir, if I wanted that I would just let your planet be overrun."

The Colonial paused and said, "Noted. What do you want me to do with them?"

"You will get instructions. I am sending a very old and experienced AI to coordinate the defense. Your odds of survival will be infinitely higher if you listen to what he says. Bornstellar out." John severed the connection.

He stood waited a moment before saying, "Open a com to Sanghelios. Find me the Arbiter."

John waited with his hands folded behind his back.

An Elite answered the com, though he was not the Arbiter. "How do you know the Arbiter's location?" he said in a low, dangerous voice. "I will blast you out of the stars if you mean harm."

The Chief was unmoved. "Tell the Arbiter someone is looking for him. Tell him, 'there is still time to stop the key from turning.' He will understand what I mean. Tell him to answer the com alone."

The Elite stared at him a moment than said, "I will do so."

John waited a few more minutes before the Arbiter appeared. He was wearing golden armor, and the Chief could sense the air around him had changed since he had last seen him. The Arbiter had become what he was always meant to be, a true leader.

"Master Chief," he said dipping his head in respect.

The Chief did the same. "Arbiter."

"It is good to see you alive my friend, and I see you have gone through your transformation."

John was surprised, even though he shouldn't be. "You knew?"

"One only has to look through history to see the truth."

"Then you know I am coming to Sanghelios."

The Arbiter nodded. "I expected your coming. However the other members of your kind are also here. They are looking for you."

"I know."

"I cannot stop them, nor will I try to."

"It's not your place to," John said understanding. The Arbiter couldn't risk endangering the alliance with the UNSC when so much was at stake. "I am arriving in one ship," John continued, "but I wanted you to know it was me. I do not mean you nor the Swords of Sanghelios harm."

"I appreciate the warning Master Chief," the Arbiter said. "And I hope the other members of your kind see the truth of you before the end. You are needed, more than they realize."

"Can you send me the frequency for your Friend or Foe tag?"

"Sending now."

An Elite walked up to the Arbiter and whispered something. "Apologies, Master Chief. I am being called into battle."

"I understand Arbiter."

"Then perhaps, when the trial has passed we will see each other again."

"Perhaps," John agreed.

"I only ask that you do not forget us, when you turn the galaxy on its head."

The com shut off, and the Chief pulled the holo up of Sanghelios and looked at what was happening in space. _Infinity_ was hanging in high Orbit just above where the Guardian was hidden, sunk deep in the ocean. A large hurricane raged against the coast and the Chief knew getting there (even with Forerunner technology) was going to be challenging.

"We'll need an entry plan which doesn't involve us getting into a firefight with _Infinity_ ," Fred observed.  
John nodded. "Any ideas?"

Fred stepped up to the holo table and stared quietly for a moment. "These are the remaining five Covenant ships," he said pointing, "which are on a trajectory to intercept _Infinity_. If we dropped from behind, the _Seedling Star_ could destroy the ships, we could drop to the planet in Phaetons, and our ship will leave before _Infinity_ has a chance to react."

"They'll know it's us," Kelly said.

"What choice do we have?"

"We don't," John said.

"Destroying those ships will be easy. Give the Covenant a taste of their own goddamn medicine," Linda added.

The Chief continued to look at Sanghelios. The Precursor's weren't attacking population centers, or were even making their way towards the Guardian's location. Instead they were gathering on a remote continent in the southern hemisphere where no one lived.

"Mendicant Bias. The Precursor's. What are they doing?"

It took a moment for the process he had left behind to respond. "Digging."

"Digging?"

"Yes."

"For what?"

There was silence, and the holo of the planet zoomed in so Blue Team could see. 1 Kilometer below the surface lay a large pod, which was about the same size as a small city. It looked more like a mottled egg than anything else.

"It is Precursor technology Bornstellar," Mendicant Bias process said. "But my knowledge base is extremely limited. I cannot tell you what it is."

John continued to stare at the pod. Even in his previous life Precursor artifacts were few and far between. He had always held a fascination for them, even before becoming the Didact. _Another directive from the Librarian._

"The Precursor's also grew their technology, because most of it was organic. Inside the pod could be a number of things, but I know we don't want to find out."

"Can we destroy it?" Fred asked.

"Most of their technology is extremely resilient."

"Even against nuke's?" Linda asked.

John imagined she was arching her eyebrow underneath her helmet.

"We'd have to penetrate the outer layer of the pod and put the Nuke's in on a time delay so they explode when the Precursors have finished digging it out." Fred said. "If we were to make them go off before that a nuclear explosion underground would tear Sanghelios apart."

"And we don't have nuclear devices," John said.

"He does," Kelly said lifting her chin towards the image of _Infinity._

"Think he'd help us?" Linda asked.

"He might."

"How long until the UNSC reaches the Guardian? Once we're planet side I will tell it to go into lockdown."

"Four hours. Bornstellar, the Guardian is already on lock down. There seems to be an AI aboard, though I cannot communicate with it because of distance and my limited functions."

 _Curious._ "We're almost to Sanghelios," John said out loud. "Prepare for drop."

Blue Team nodded and began to clear the Bridge.

"Find me Captain Lasky's personal com if you can," the Chief said to Mendicant Bias process.

"When you're ready."

"This is Sierra 117 to Captain Lasky. I know the past 36 hours have been," he paused and then said,"unconventional. I'm sure you've heard things about me that make it seem like I have turned away from Humanity. That's not true. I wish I had the time to tell you what's really been going on, but I don't. I need your help.

On an isolated Southern Continent on Sanghelios the Precursors are digging up something, and though I'm not sure what it is, I know that if they are allowed to take it, all of us will be in terrible danger. I need you to meet me at these coordinates with 3 nukes and some kind of portable drilling equipment. My team and I need to drill and force the nukes inside the pod to destroy it. I know I'm asking a lot, but I also know I'm asking the right person. You know me. Chief out."

John didn't bother waiting for a response knowing if Lasky would help he couldn't say over coms, and if he didn't, it mattered little. _We might be dead if he doesn't._

The Chief walked off the Bridge and met with Blue Team aboard one of the Phaetons. There were several which would drop with them to the surface.

"This is it," Kelly said solemnly.

"I hope he listened to you," Linda said.

"Me too."

"Exiting Slipspace in 10 seconds," Mendicant Bias process said. "Good luck Blue Team."

John felt something surge in the back of his mind. "Don't take too long," Cortana's voice whispered. "I'm waiting for you, but I can't wait too much longer."

John instinctively touched the back of his helmet, even though there was no AI integration chip slot. "I promise," he whispered back.

Mendicant Bias' voice came back over the coms. "5...4…3…2…"

* * *

 **Author's Note.**

So remember I told you guys I was updating every Friday? Well this week you're getting an early update because I am going away this weekend and found out the place we're staying has no internet access. Woah! Who even knew there were still places without internet am I right? ;-).

So, the Arbiter knows a lot more about what's going on than he lets on. :-D I have a feeling this will be true in game. It was that weird cryptic statement he made to Locke in one of the early trailers, "The seeds of our future are sown in his past" that tipped me off. We'll see how that actually flushes out.

For those of you who have been playing Halo a long time, do you remember when Halo 2 first came out and everyone hated the idea of playing as the Arbiter? Now he's one of our favorites. I have a feeling this will eventually happen with Locke. Since posting the first chapter of this story I've had a few more ideas regarding what Locke is about, but at the moment I'm still skeptical. VERY skeptical. I'm looking forward to 343 proving me wrong about him, as I really don't think they would make a character we play (and one they spent so much time developing) that we would straight up hate.

Yourlordandmasterofinteresting: Well, I'm glad you find it interesting, since you clearly are the lord and master of it ;-)

Kaestal: I'm so glad you liked Kelly liking the Incineration Cannon. Originally Linda was going to have it, but Kelly told me she wanted to test it out instead. :-D. Also, I'm excited to share my thoughts on the Domain with you all! Gah, why can't that chapter be here already?

Sheploo: Thanks for the encouragement, and I mean it. It's what gives me the courage to scrap what I've written and do a rewrite because I know it could be better, or to take risks.

abusedreadmann: Don't worry! The story will be finished, I promise.

Ryan: I know right? What is up with this TV show? We've heard nothing, and it's KILLING ME. No word that it's been canceled, but seriously. I know Spielberg is a busy guy, but they could at least let us know when in the timeline the show is taking place. Covenant? Pre Covenant? Post? Will there be Flood? Does it have to do with Spartans? Will the Chief make an appearance? So. many. questions. It would be interesting to do a side thing of Petra. I'm so surprised that she isn't the main person in Hunt the Truth season 2! I've always got at least 3 side project ideas in my brain, so we'll see what comes to fruition and what doesn't, especially after the new game. A part of me thinks I'll be too depressed to write anything, which is something I continually lament to my friend Ladywolfsbayne over DM about. I get so invested and the story seems so real, I just wonder if 343 is going to rip my insides out with how they end this thing. In all reality I'm sure it won't be that bad. You should create an account and follow me as a writer though. I'd love to have you around for the next ride!


	12. Sanghelios

**The Reclamation, Chapter 12: Sanghelios.**

"Drop," Mendicant Bias Process said at the exact moment the _Seedling Star_ came out of Slip Space. The bay doors opened, and the Phaeton's flew out, diving towards Sanghelios at a frightening speed.

Even though Mendicant Bias' leftover Process couldn't calculate complex battle strategies, he was still able to calculate exactly where the _Seedling Star_ would come out of Slip Space, where the ships were and how many seconds to fire. As The Phaeton Blue team was aboard hurled toward the planet, the _Seedling Star_ fired three precise shots of brilliant orange light, one at each ship.

One shot was all that was required, and the Covenant ships were completely eradicated. By the time anyone knew what was happening the _Seedling Star_ had left, traveling to Sedra as fast as it could.

"If only we had that ship while we were fighting the covenant," Fred said solemnly. "Our family would still be here."

"Sam," Kelly said quietly.

The Phaeton continued to dive towards the planet, maneuvering through a debris field from the Covenant Ships. John was grateful for that. Though they had taken out the Covenant there were still some smaller vessels lurking around, and the swords of Sanghelios would have to report his whereabouts to the UNSC. Phateon's would be more difficult to track in the debris field giving them a small edge.

"Bornstellar, we are about to hit the atmosphere," the onboard AI said. The Phateons began to glow slightly, but there was no shaking.

"I'll never get used that," Fred commented.

The Phaetons passed through a layer of clouds, and Blue Team was able to get a look at what the Precursors were doing. A large ugly scar of brown earth the size of a small city blotted the otherwise white continent.

 _No wonder the Elites don't live here. Temperatures are well below freezing,_ John thought.

"They're digging so fast," Kelly said. "How do we get by undetected?"

"There's a series of caves close to where the pod is," John said. "We'll use those."

The Precursor Ship began to slow it's descent as it neared the surface. John activated the Orbis and commanded all the Prometheans to hold position until they were able to determine if Lasky had decided to meet them with the weapons.

"Everyone ready?" John asked as he put his weapon on his back.

"Affirmative," Linda said jumping off the Phaeton.

A light snow was drifting down, and the sun shone just above the horizon. Blue Team began to walk towards the coordinates.

"What if…." Linda started.

"Osiris is there?" Fred finished.

Linda nodded.

"Then we fight, and hope we're not too late to stop the Precursors."

Blue Team continued to walk towards the rendezvous point.

"I think I see a Pelican," Kelly said after a few minutes. Blue Team held up their weapons in response and walked as quietly as they could.

"I see two signatures," John said. "It could still be a trap." He motioned with his Suppressor and directed Blue Team to the back of the Pelican.

Standing in front of the sealed Pelican door was not Captain Lasky, but it wasn't Locke either.

"Commander Palmer?" John said finally.

She lowered her Magnums slightly, but put them back up. "Chief? Is…that you?"

"Yes."

"You…look different."

"It's him," Fred said coming around the corner.

" _Infinity_ " has been tracking the same thing you have, but we didn't know what it was," Palmer said still holding her Magnums up.

"Is Lasky here?" the Chief asked.

The back of the Pelican opened and Lasky walked down the ramp. Palmer looked back at him. "Damn it Captain I told you..."

"It's all right Commander," he said. "You can stand down." He placed his hand over her's and forced her to lower the guns.

"Captain," Master Chief said walking up.

"Master Chief," he said giving John a look over. "I understand you need some equipment from _Infinity."  
_

"That's right."

"Then you better grab what you need, as there isn't much time to waste."

John and Blue Team walked up into the Pelican and they saw it was full of stuff. Lasky brought almost every kind of weapon Blue Team could want.

 _An Assault Rifle,_ John thought picking it up. _With real ammo._ Nothing compared with a UNSC weapon, and as he looked at the other members of Blue Team who were gearing up he knew they felt the same way.

Also in the Pelican were the nuclear weapons the Chief had requested. He picked one up and attached it to a clip on his back.

 _Hopefully this goes better than last time._

Fred and Kelly also took nuclear weapons and Linda picked up the drill.

"So what's your plan?" Lasky said once they had exited the Pelican.

John activated the Orbis and showed Lasky where the Precursors were digging. "There's a cave system we can enter. It's small enough that the tunnels may go unnoticed. We'll have to tap the pod at these locations and insert the nukes. They'll be on a timer so they will detonate once the Precursors have finished digging it out."

"What's the likelihood the nuke's will take care of it?" Palmer asked.

"We don't know," the Chief said truthfully. "All we know is that Precursor technology is extremely resilient."  
She pursed her lips and said, "Then I'm coming with you."

Lasky turned his head sharply. "Sarah."

"I've got to, especially with everything that's been going on," she said looking back at him. "We all know," she said returning her gaze back to Blue Team, "that this mission is a crap shoot at best. You need all the help you can get, so I'm coming with you."

John nodded.

"How will you get back to _Infinity?"_ Lasky asked.

"Figure these guys can help me out with that." She turned herself towards Lasky again. "It'll be okay Tom."

"Don't get caught," he said, seeming to resign himself to the idea.

"If I do," she said while checking her Magnum pistols, "you better figure out a way to get me out of it. Ready to go Chief."

"Good luck Blue Team," Lasky said. "Be careful."

"And for fuck's sake watch where you're driving when you leave Tom," Palmer said. "When I come back I better not find out you died while trying to navigate the debris field."

Lasky smiled slightly, but it seemed that his smile was colored by sadness. He turned slowly and began to walk towards the driver's seat of the Pelican.

"How far to the entrance of the cave System Chief?" Palmer asked him.  
"923 meters Commander," he answered.  
"Just Palmer Chief. No need for that, especially with you." John nodded, acknowledging her request. Palmer fell back and positioned herself to the Chief's right, just behind Kelly.

John kept his Assault Rifle up as they neared the entrance of the cave system. He turned the weapon light on and said, "let's go."

The caves were quiet save for the constant water dipping, and in some places the passes were so skinny the Spartans had to walk single file.

It took almost an hour for them to get to the bottom of the caves, and though the Chief had an almost infinite amount of patience, he couldn't help but feel internally irritated at the speed this mission was taking. They didn't have much time to get the nuclear weapons in place, not to mention obtaining the Guardian. Cortana was also waiting for him, and he wasn't sure what she meant by, "I can't wait much longer."

 _Cortana._

"We're here," the Chief said walking up to a solid looking formation. "On the other side of this lays the Precursor pod."

"How do we get through?" Linda asked.

"I know," Palmer said backing up. She took off running at full speed, shouting as she hit the wall. It cracked, and then broke, causing Palmer to fall out of the opening on the other side.

The Chief walked through the opening cautiously. When he ducked under the rock and stepped through his breath hitched.

The Precursor pod was indeed massive. It stood 10 stories tall and was so long the light on his Assault Rifle couldn't illuminate how far it went. So far they hadn't been detected, but John knew it was only a matter of time.

"Precursors are going to get through the roof in less than 10 minutes," Kelly announced.

"Quickly Linda, set up the drill," the Chief said.

Palmer took out her Magnum pistols and held them up in a guard stance while Linda set up the drill. She began, and there was a horrid high pitched screaming noise as Blue Team attempted to drill.

"It's working," Linda said as she pressed the drill further. "Hold on…I'm through!" she said as she lurched forward slightly. Linda pulled the drill out, but before anyone could drop in a nuke the hole closed up and smoothed over as if nothing had happened.

"What the hell?" Palmer said looking over her shoulder and glancing at the pod. "And I thought Forerunner tech gave me the creeps."

Linda began to press the drill again, but when she finished the same thing happened.

"Now what do we do?" Kelly asked.

John had been silently staring at the pod. He _knew_ it was alive, and something inside it was alive (whatever it was). He reached out his hand and disengaged the armor, touching it with his fingers. The molten pattern on the pod turned a dark blue, so he pulled away and activated the Orbis.

"The pod is made from self-regenerating tissue," John said reading the Orbis. "No matter how fast we drill, it will always regrow before we can insert the nuke. We need a different approach." John continued to read the information until a thought struck him. He detached a small probe from the Orbis and stuck it the pod.

The probe began to shiver until it became a similar pattern to the Precursor object. John detached it.

"This probe was able to transform itself into the same property as the pod. Hopefully the pod will recognize it as belonging to itself." He took the nuke off of his back and stuck the probe to it. The probe's mutated form began to expand some, covering a portion of the nuke.

"Hurry Chief!" Kelly said.

John ignited the activation switch just before it was covered, and stuck it to the pod. There was an odd gurgling noise and Blue Team watched with fascination as the nuke was _consumed_ by the pod. In a matter of moments it was completely gone.

"We still have two more, and we need to get them planted on each of the opposite ends," the Chief said.

Dirt began to fall from the ceiling, and the Chief looked up just in time to see light come through the roof.

"Shit!" Palmer said.

"Blue Team! We need to split up. Fred, Linda, Kelly, you go together to the East end of the pod. Take this probe," he said handing them a small orange object. "Palmer you're with me."

"See you on the surface Chief," Kelly said tossing her nuke and then sprinting off with the rest of Blue.

John called his Promethean Soldiers and then shrunk the Orbis. He and Palmer began to run. Though she was a Spartan IV and her suit wasn't nearly as advanced as his, she pushed herself hard to try and keep up.

John looked up and saw the light coming into the cave was getting brighter. The Precursor Forms were peeling back more of the stone ceiling.

To the far right the Chief noticed Precursor's coming down the walls.

"Damn it," Palmer said opening fire. John noted how precise she was with both her Magnums, easily taking out targets with her left pistol without needing to look directly at where she was shooting. It was clear she had a lot of skill.

"We're almost there," he said shooting a larger Precursor Form.

"Just…tell me…aghh!" she yelled while shooting, "Where we need to go Chief. I've got your back."

"Here," he said getting out the probe.

Palmer stood with his back to him. He could hear her shooting quickly. "Son..of..a…."

John waited for the probe to finish its work.

"I need some help Chief!"

John spun around and wasn't fully prepared for what he saw. He counted over a dozen Flood Forms, Several of the larger slower moving Precursor Forms, and at least ten of the tall skinny types. It was amazing they were able to get to floor of the cave so quickly. He began to shoot with his Assault Rifle while Palmer reloaded her Magnum's.

"There's more coming to our right Chief. We've got to get that nuke inserted and get the hell out of here."

John gunned down one of the taller forms and then said, "I know."

"Then you better do it while I've still got full amo."

He turned around again, detaching the nuclear weapon from his back, and activated the timer. He dropped the probe on it, and then stuck the nuke to the pod.

"Let's go," he said.

Palmer was already slightly in front of him, shooting Flood Forms that were crawling very near her feet.

"Don't let those things touch you!" John said getting his Assault Rifle out. One of the Flood Forms began to crawl up Palmer's suit, and she was desperately trying to pull it off.

John jumped to her aid and grabbed the Precursor Form. The power in his suit drained temporarily, but he was otherwise unaffected. Once it was off Palmer she shot it with her left Magnum.

"Shield's completely fried Chief."

"I know, I can help you some, but not here. We've got to keep moving. Blue Team, what's your status?"

"We're already on our way out Chief. No time to trek through the caves so we're using jet packs to jump out of here," Fred said over coms. "There's enough holes in the roof to make an escape."

"Affirmative. Palmer and I encountered heavy resistance so we are looking for a spot to begin our ascent."

"There Chief!" Palmer said pointing and then using her jetpacks.

His Forerunner suit had something similar which manipulated gravity fields. It was a lot more efficient than Palmer's, but he timed his accent with hers, jumping up from cliff to cliff, and shooting any Precursor Forms which got in their way.

"Chief, the pod. I think it's moving," Palmer told him as she jumped up to another ledge.

John turned and got a closer look. The Precursor's had gotten to the bottom of the cave and were doing something (he couldn't say what exactly) that was causing the pod to lift out of the hole. John turned his attention back towards the cliff.

The earth began to quake as a result of the pod lifting out of the hole, and John could see they only had a few more stories to go before they would be clear.

The tremors began to cause the last of the cave's ceiling to begin collapsing. Both the Chief and Palmer tried to time their jumps so they wouldn't get crushed.

"Palmer watch out!"

Though he said it, it was clear there wasn't anywhere for Palmer to move and escape the avalanche. If he hadn't been using the Gravity Manipulation Field he might have been able to catch one of the larger rocks. Instead, the Chief watched helplessly as a large boulder the size of a house fell on Palmer, pinning her to an unstable ledge below.

The Chief began to jump down, and he was worried. Normally it wouldn't have been so serious, but she had no shields and the Spartan IV armor wasn't nearly as robust as what his own class traditionally wore.

She was silent as John lifted the ginormous rock and hurled it to the cavern below.

"Palmer can you hear me?" The chest piece and the abdomen piece were crushed. She groaned, but otherwise made no attempt to speak.

He wasted no time. He picked her up and with three percise jumps they were back on the snowy surface of Sanghelios.

"Blue Team, I'm on the surface and Palmer's been severely injured."

"Rodger Chief. We're in a Phaeton headed to your location."

John continued to run, feeling the earth tremble beneath his feet. He glanced at his HUD to check the timer on the nuclear weapons. They would be going off in a matter of minutes, and they weren't nearly far enough from the blast radius.

"We see you Chief. Directly above you," Kelly's voice said over the coms.

John timed his jump and leapt onto the moving craft, as it sped to create as much distance as it could from where the pod was.

"What's her status?" Fred asked looking down at her.

Kelly worked quickly to undo her med pack and scanned Palmer with her data pad. "She's in critical condition. Her ribs have been crushed, and many of her internal organs are either bruised or severely damaged," she said looking up at the Chief. "She's also bleeding internally. It's bad."

"We've got to get her to _Infinity_ as quickly as possible," John said.

Palmer stirred, and it looked like she was motioning to have her helmet taken off. Kelly obliged her.

"What…what happened?" She asked weakly.

"You got crushed while trying to scale the wall of the cave."

"Everything hurts," she said.

"You've got damage to multiple organs," Kelly informed her. "I'm surprised you're not unconscious."

"Well, I would like to be," she said while coughing. She groaned. "I'm not going to make it am I?"

Kelly looked up at John.

"We don't know," the Chief said frankly. "But Lasky will never forgive me if I return him to you in a body bag, so stay alive Spartan." Normally it wasn't something he would say, but he said it for Palmer's benefit, knowing she would respond.

"He's too nice to hold a grudge," Palmer said sarcastically.

"For this, I think he would," John said seriously.

Palmer crinkled her eyebrows for a moment, and then they softened.

"You know?" she whispered in surprise.

"What's she talking about Chief?" Linda asked.

John ignored Linda. He needed to keep Palmer talking, and their current conversation seemed to be working. "I know you haven't done anything about it."

She laughed, which caused her to cough and spit up blood. "No offense Chief, but I figured you'd be the last person to notice something like that."

"Normally you'd be right, but I've lived a hundred lifetimes since I saw you last."

"Like I'm supposed to understand what the hell that means."

"You're not, but just know it means I've changed some."

"Well, I have no doubt of that," she said as he eyes rolled in the back of her head.

"Palmer!" the Chief shouted. "You look at me Spartan. Understand?"

"Yes…sir," she said blinking.

John decided to keep continuing to press her. "So why haven't you taken care of this yet?"

"Taken care of what?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about. Now tell me."

"Regulations."

"I don't believe you. The truth Spartan."

"Fine. I'm…" she looked wide eyed at the Chief and coughed again. "I'm afraid," she whispered. "Makes me ashamed to say it."

"We're all afraid of something," the Chief said meaningfully.

"Even you?" she said in the same tone.

"Chief, she's going into shock," Kelly said.

"Yes, even me."

"I'm sorry…to…let you down Chief…but...I just can't stay…." She passed out.

John became distracted by the countdown going off in his HUD.

"Five seconds until the blast," he told Blue Team.

The Chief turned his attention back to the pod, which had now risen above the hole. It looked like a large egg in the distance. He waited to see the explosion of white light, but nothing of the sort happened. Instead the pod rippled, shrank into itself and disappeared.

"What just happened?" Fred asked.

John activated the Orbis and zoomed in on the dig site. The pod had fallen back into the hole, and now looked like a large shriveled raisin.

"The pod contained the nuclear blast," Kelly said, obviously shocked.  
"But the Precursor Forms are gone. How is that possible?" Linda said. "They weren't touched by the explosion."  
"If we had time we would go back and investigate," the Chief said turning his attention back to Palmer. "But we need to get Palmer to _Infinity,_ and we need to get to the Guardian."

"At least the crisis has been averted, whatever it was," Linda said.

"She's still with us," Kelly said checking her datapad.

"This is Sierra 117 to Captain Lasky. As you can see the detonations have appeared to have stopped the Precursor's from obtaining whatever was in that pod, but Commander Palmer has been severely injured and she is in critical condition. We will have a Phaeton take her directly to _Infinity._ Please be ready to receive her."

"What…what happened? I wasn't tracking her to keep her presence down there a secret," Lasky's voice said over the coms.

The Chief knew he was attempting to keep himself composed.

"An Earthquake caused a collapse and she got caught in it," the Chief said.

"Direct…your Phaeton to this docking bay. We don't use it. I'll…have a team I can trust there."

"I'm sorry Captain," the Chief said sincerely.

"It's…not your fault. She, she knew the risks. I better not continue to talk on this channel."

A Phaeton pulled alongside so Blue Team could disembark. John tasked a Promethean Knight to stay with Palmer as she made her journey up to _Infinity._

"Good luck Palmer," Kelly said as the two Phaeton's separated.

"Think she'll make it?" Fred asked.

"All we know for sure is she'll fight to the end," Kelly said.

John looked down at the ocean they were crossing. 1251 Kilometers to the north east lay the Guardian, and with that lay the end of everything and the beginning of something.

"We've got two hours," Fred said.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Guess what everyone? This is going to be 2 part weekend. You're going to get the rest of what happens on Sanghelios (and then some) on Sunday, so stay tuned! We gotta wrap this baby up.

Now, I want you all to know I didn't maybe kill Palmer because I don't like her. I know she isn't very well liked in the Halo verse, but I actually like her quite a bit. I like her because she's flawed. We need those type of characters. She doesn't always make the right decisions and she usually can't see the big picture, but she's got it where it counts. She's got Lasky's back, and protects him even when she doesn't agree or understand his decisions. She lies for him TO OSMAN'S FACE, and if that isn't gutsy, I don't know what is. So, even if you're not her biggest fan, give her props where props are due. At least for me, anyone who puts their lives and reputation on the line for the Captain is okay in my book.

Also, if you guys haven't been keeping up with Hunt the Truth you should check it out. This season is proving to be VERY interesting.

See you Sunday!


	13. Race to the Finish

**The Reclamation Chapter 13 Race to the Finish**

As John looked out of the Phaeton he could see the ocean raging below them. The closer they got to the shoreline, the worse the weather became. There was a class 5 Hurricane raging on the cost and it had forced the Phaeton to divert its path. Even Forerunner technology was subject to nature, especially when it became this violent.

 _One hour left,_ the Chief thought.

"I see the shoreline," Fred said. Lightning strikes continued to hit the water, and a gust of wind caused the Phaeton to sway.

Blue Team had decided they would ride in the Phaeton up the coast as far as possible and then run on foot the rest of the way to the Guardian.

The Orbis had alerted John when the Phaeton Palmer had been in docked with _Infinity,_ but there hadn't been any word of her condition, and at this point it wasn't likely Blue Team would hear news. Lasky wouldn't risk contacting them until things had calmed down.

The Phaeton swayed again, and this time it took a bit longer for the ship to correct its course.

"Of all the things, it had to be a Hurricane," Fred commented.

John nodded. The weather had slowed them down a considerable amount, but he also knew if they had been in a UNSC vehicle they would have had to land long ago.

The Phaeton turned and began to go North up the coast, meeting a strong headwind. John heard the Phaeton's engines power up to compensate, and it began to move forward at the same speed. John used the Orbis to look at the terrain. He found an acceptable LZ only 20 kilometers from the Guardian, and directed the Phaeton to land them at that location.

Blue Team held on as the small carrier ship maneuvered its way through ruined buildings, dodging occasional blasts from Covenant forces on the ground.

"There," John said as the Phaeton began to slow and land.

Blue Team hopped off with their weapons up. It was nighttime and the rain was so thick it would have been pitch black if not for the enormous amount of lightning that flashed in the sky.

John felt as calm as ever, be he knew were he not so disciplined, his heart would have been pounding in his ears. Only a few days ago he was hopeless and driving himself as hard as he could to block out the pain and grief. Now he had hope he would be reunited with Cortana, he had discovered he was a Forerunner in part and had gained control of the Forerunner Promethean army. It was almost too much to comprehend.

John saw Covenant ahead, and Blue Team broke their formation.

"Two Elites on our 10," Kelly announced. She whizzed by and ran up a broken stone back flipping and shooting the first Elite in the back of the head with her Shot Gun, then killed the second one before he had finished spinning around.

John gunned down a group of Grunts while Promethean Soldiers phased in and out around Blue Team, making kills. All of them were experts in cleaning up the Covenant.

"Jackals with Beam Rifles to our left," Linda said setting up her sniper rifle on a piece of rubble.

John heard the precise blast of the DMR to his left from Fred, and knew the Jackals would soon be dealt with. John forged ahead, taking care of Grunts with Needlers by either shooting them or hitting them with the back of his Assault Rifle. He used what remained of his clip and then tossed the Assault Rifle aside.

"Chief! Here!" He looked back to see Kelly hurling an energy sword handle towards him. He caught it, activated it and slayed a nearby Elite.

John began to push himself hard. He saw a cluster of Elites and a ridge that was above them. "Blue Team! Get on the ridge," he called as he jumped up. His suit indicated the bridge above the water where the Elites were gathered was structurally unsound, so he jumped with his fist down, and directed the energy from his suit.

His Ground Pound caused the bridge to collapse, and the Elites grunted in surprise as they fell into the ocean while the Chief boosted upwards.

He didn't look back but instead focused his attention ahead of him where Blue had moved to. He sprinted, marking an Elite who had come in behind Blue Team. He spun, activated the energy sword and stuck the Elite in the gut.

A bolt of lightning hit the water next to them, and he heard a Grunt yell in surprise. "I hate lightning!"

Fred planted a bullet square between the eyes of the Grunt, and kept moving.

Up ahead Kelly suddenly stopped. "Chief, you need to take a look at this," she said.

John sprinted up ahead to where Kelly was. He looked down and saw a large Brute lying dead, clutching a Gravity Hammer.

"Who do you think he was with?" she asked.

"I don't know," the Chief said truthfully. "Blue Team! Stay sharp. We've got Brutes in the area, and we're not sure which side they chose."

"Rodger Chief," Fred said.

"Acknowledged," Linda reported.

John clipped the energy sword handle to this belt and picked up the Hammer. It was ridiculously large, but effective.

He started running again, and the rain began to beat down even harder than before. He adjusted his suit's head piece, switching on the thermal imaging.

John ran up a fallen pillar and jumped off, raising the Grav hammer above his head. He smashed through another Elite, and left a small crater in his wake.

Further ahead John saw friendly Target's appear on his HUD blocking the path to the Guardian, and for a moment he wasn't sure if it was Osiris or someone else. The suit responded to his thought and the image zoomed in so he could see what he was looking at.

"Brutes ahead! They're marked friendlies."

John broke his sprint into a jog, and placed the Grav hammer on his back so the Brutes would not mistake his run for an attack. The rest of Blue Team caught up to him and together they approached the group of Brutes. The largest one, a Chieftain saw the and walked over. Brutes were formidable creatures, and their size made the Spartan's look like children.

"The Arbiter informed us we may run across you," he growled. "He said that if harm were to come to you by our hands the alliance we forged would be broken. Do not take my passive as a sign of forgiveness. If I could, I would tear your limbs asunder, _demon."_

John inhaled sharply. He hadn't been called demon in a long time.

"Now go, before I decide your death is worth disobeying my superiors," he bore his teeth.

John backed up from the Brute, and continued to run.

"How the Arbiter got them to sign a peace agreement, I'll never understand," Linda said from behind.

John was inclined to agree, but made no comment on the subject. He knew that the Arbiter couldn't afford the Brutes to side with the Covenant, and chose instead to broker for an alliance.

"Chief! The Guardian!" Kelly called.

John looked up and saw that the Guardian was coming up out of the ocean and its pieces were assembling in the distance.

He attacked another Jackal with a Needler and continued to move.

John waited until Blue Team went through another building and then made his way up the stairs. He jumped and used his Ground Pound to collapse the building behind them.

 _That should slow Osiris,_ he thought.

And that was how Blue Team ran the last 500 meters. They killed the Covenant while destroying as many buildings as they could in the process to make things difficult for Osiris. John knew Blue Team was ahead, but he wasn't sure by how much. He couldn't see them without activating the Orbis and he wouldn't stop for anything.

"How do we get inside the Guardian Chief? Phaeton won't be able to ferry us across with these winds," Fred said as they came up to the last clearing before the ocean.

A large orange eyed AI materialized in front of Blue Team with an energy sword. "I will take you there," he said.

John guessed this was the AI Mendicant Bias had mentioned when they were aboard the _Seedling Star_.

"Welcome Bornstellar," the AI said. "I am the Warden Eternal, and I was tasked with keeping the Domain. Do you remember me?"

John blinked. "Vaguely."

"The other members of your kind are close, and we must take the Guardian to the Installation where you sent the first. The third is already there."

The Warden expanded himself, and phased Blue Team to the Guardian.

"You must take control," he said to John before phasing out again.

The Chief nodded, then walked over to the main control station. It would still take a few moments for the Guardian to finish assembling itself, but the Chief gave the orders to proceed to the Reclamation Installation as soon as it was finished.

John also sent a message to Mendicant Bias indicating he was on the Guardian and proceeding to the Installation before going to the window. He folded his hands behind his back and watched the world of Sanghelios melt away into Slip Space.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see it was Fred's.

"You've been through a lot in the past few days," Fred commented.

"We all have."

"What do you think you'll find in the Domain?" he asked.

John thought for a moment. "Answers."

Fred nodded. "Listen Chief, we know how this ends. No matter what happens, we can't go back to the UNSC."

"You may be able to," he said.

"We don't want to. Whatever happens, we're with you Chief. To the end."

John placed a hand on Fred's arm. "Thank you Fred."

"We're going to have a hell of a fight on our hands."

John nodded and continued to look out the window silently, grateful for the pause to gather his thoughts.

A few hours had gone by before the Warden had alerted him they were almost in position.

John turned and walked to the controls of the Guardian just as the Installation came into view. Its shape was very similar to that of the Ark, but it was _much_ smaller (about the size of an asteroid). Far above it two large barren rings hung one encircling the other so they formed a crude X shape. He could see the two Guardians near the Installation and parked further away were the two Dreadnought ships and the _Seedling Star_.

"What is _he_ doing here?" the Warden prickled.

"It's alright," John said. "I told him to meet me here."

John could see the Warden wasn't pleased, but he did not continue to object. He tapped the controls and the Guardians began to move, positioning themselves inside the innermost ring.

Once they were stationary the Chief placed his hand on a sensor and turned the final key. The Guardians stretched out their wings and their eyes glowed a bright blue. Light shot out, and for a moment it was all John could see. When it finally faded, the light revealed something spectacular.

Within the span of the Guardians wings was a large cloud, which also somewhat resembled a membrane. It looked as if there were a million lights dotting the membrane and light seemed to travel through it. There was also thin shimmer that encapsulated the cloud.

"It's…beautiful," Kelly said softly. "Is it…"

"The Domain?" John finished. "Yes."

"Where did it come from?"

"It has always been there," the Warden answered. "But it was hidden in Sip Space. The curtain has been pulled back, and now you can access it."

"Is that how it survived the firing of the Halo array?" Fred asked.

"Yes," the Warden said.

A platform hung just below the cloud with a beam of light connecting it to the membrane.

"That is where you can have direct access Bornstellar," the Warden commented.

The Chief opened a com to Dreadnaught One. "Mendicant Bias?"

"Yes, Bornstellar?"

"Meet me on the platform. There are things we'll need to take care of as soon as I'm finished."

"Understood," he said.

"Can you phase us to the Platform Warden?" John asked.

"Yes," he said stretching himself out.

Once they were on the platform John looked up at the Domain. He could see light traveling from one bright node to another.

"It reminds me of how the brain sends messages across nerve cells," Kelly whispered in awe. "It truly is alive."

John turned and began to walk toward the Domain connection point. _I'm here, Cortana. I hope you are too._

"Chief!" Linda called.

John turned to see Fire Team Osiris climb up the platform.

"How did you get here?" Kelly cried.

"They must have used their jet packs to cross from the Guardian to the platform," Fred said.

Locke took out his Battle Rifle, but before he could react the Warden pushed Osiris off the platform using a similar defense protocol as the Orbis. They flew off, and John could only guess they would fall to the Installation below.

"Go Chief!" Linda called. "We'll be here if they come back."

John wasted no more time. He ran as fast as his suit could allow, and jumped into the beam of light.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

I am so sorry I am getting this to you later than I originally said I would. At the moment my dog is sick with a fever, and as you can imagine caring for him has taken up a large portion of my day. He's got some medicine for the evening, and then we'll be off to the vet first thing tomorrow morning :-(.

I know a couple of you messaged me with questions and I will do my best to get to them tomorrow. If I try to answer them now I won't be able to give them the attention they deserve.

I will quickly say that I made myself very happy the Grav Hammer made a short appearance in this fic. It is one of my favorite weapons in Halo. That noise it makes when it smashes things...brilliant. I was so grateful that 343i put one in the last mission of Halo 4. Smashing Prometheans with it is oh so satisfying.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to sharing with you what (at least in my brain) goes on in the Domain. Yay.

Thanks for being here friends.


	14. The Domain, an Ending and a Beginning

**The Reclamation Chapter 14: The Domain, an Ending and a Beginning**

John opened his eyes in what seemed to be an indistinguishable hallway with doorways, but as he focused he realized the hallway resembled one of the many that used to make up the Spartan compound on Reach. This hallway seemed to go on for infinity and with an infinite amount of doorways.

"Cortana!" he yelled. His voice echoed down the hallway.

"Where are you?" his voice whispered in an echo though he did not say it.

"I didn't want you to sacrifice yourself for me," said the final echo.

John shivered. The Domain was speaking his innermost thoughts, and having them broadcast was... _disconcerting._ It was more than disconcerting, it was painful.

John looked to his left and saw a mirror began to grow up from the floor, and it grew until it span the wall between two doorways. He looked into the mirror and discovered it was broken.

A little boy began to walk towards him in the mirror until he was nearly face to face with John. He stopped and smiled a toothy smile. The boy had freckles, with brown blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes he had ever seen.

 _It's me,_ he realized.

John hadn't thought of himself as a little boy since…since before he could remember. He knelt to stare at himself. That little boy had been innocent once, without a care in the world except what kind of Sandcastle he was going to build on the beach and who would challenge him at King of the Hill.

 _Strange how quickly that changed._

The little boy pointed upward, and disappeared. A Forerunner walked up to the mirror next. He was tall, dignified and proud. The only tell he was old was the look in his eyes.

"Bornstellar?" the Chief asked standing up.

The figure nodded. "Hello John."

The Chief was taken aback. He didn't expect the image to talk.

"I know it's strange seeing me, especially when you remember me as yourself."

John nodded.

"A lot has been asked of you," Bornstellar said. "But you have done well. Better than any of us could have hoped."

"It's my duty," John said. "And it will always be my duty to protect the people of Earth."

The Forerunner smiled slightly. "Always saying the same old line. But here you can't hide the truth from yourself. We both know you are tired. You can't do this forever, even if you have become Forerunner."

The Chief didn't argue. It was the truth, even if he had never dared formulate the feeling into words. He _was_ tired, and had he been feeling tired ever since he lost Cortana.

"And no matter what you tell yourself," Bornstellar continued, "you want more out of life. It's just taken you this long to realize there's more to you than the box they put you in….the box _we_ put you in."

"Fate," John said simply.

"Yes, Fate. I was subject to it just as you were." Bornstellar's eyes became even graver. "And just like me, rest will not come until it has been finished."

"How will I stop them?" John asked.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "But you are not alone. We are warriors Master Chief," Bornstellar said out of respect. "Even if you had not been imprinted with my memories, we still think very much alike. I, and the rest of us here in the Domain will do what we can to help you."

"Thank you," John said.

"This installation, do you know what it does? Do you remember?"

"I do."

"Then I suspect you have come to the same conclusion as I have."

"That Humanity will be destroyed unless I activate it."

Bornstellar nodded his head. "It is unfortunate. Though our people are used to the great changes, yours will not be. There may be confusion once it is over."

"I know. Mendicant Bias is working on it, in part."

"Then you must hurry. Time grows short. We can feel them beginning to wake up."

John nodded, though unsure of what he meant and Bornstellar's image began to fade from the mirror.

John noticed the mirror's broken pieces were beginning to repair themselves as another image came into view.

"Cortana?" he said softly as the glass became whole.

She smiled a sad smile, but said nothing. He reached out to touch the mirror, but it shattered before he could put his fingers on it.

John began to walk down the hallway, hearing voices as he passed the doorways. All of them were whispering, telling him to save Humanity, telling him to save the Galaxy. John tuned all of them out because at the moment, only one thing mattered.

 _Cortana._

He had to find her, but how? There were so many memories and so many doors. She could be _anywhere._

The Chief stopped. _No. She wouldn't be just anywhere. She would go somewhere easy to find. Somewhere significant._

He smiled to himself when he realized the obvious choice. He walked up to a door which opened as soon as he came close to it. He walked through the doorway and into sunlight. _The Playground._

He saw a woman standing by the bell with her back to him. _Cortana's not here?_ He thought sadly. _Maybe the woman will know where I can find her._

She was olive toned with deep black hair, which seemed to have a slightly bluish tint when the sunlight hit it in just the right way. The woman was wearing a dark blue dress made of a light fabric. He saw the dress was tied around her neck and exposed her back and her arms, falling just above the back of her knee. He also noticed the woman wore no shoes.

 _Am I remembering someone from my past?_ He thought.

The woman turned and looked at him with piercing blue eyes which softened as soon as she saw him.

He found himself studying the contours of the woman's face, remembering he saw them somewhere else. Comprehension hit him all at once.

"Cortana!" he gasped, feeling his heart spike.

"You found me," she said softly. "I knew you would."

"Is this real?" She was _beautiful,_ and after everything he had been through he could scarcely believe what he was seeing. He almost felt dizzy. John disengaged his head piece, determined to look at her without his visor in the way.

"Real enough," she said coming closer.

"You look..." he swallowed.

"Different? Yes I can look like anything I want in here. I wanted you to know it was really me. You'd never picture me like this, would you?"

John wanted to say _no._ He wanted to say a lot of things, but found he was unable to formulate the words. After so long, was she truly standing in front of him? And standing in front of him like this?

She stopped, and appraised him under a careful eye. "You look different too," she smiled. "I like it. You look nice."

As John stared at her he felt the persistent ache begin to dissipate, leaving behind a calm sense of wholeness. He was himself again. "How are you here?" he asked finally.

She looked at him thoughtfully. "It was the Precursors. They snatched me as I was dying and put me back together. They were trying to use my memories and knowledge to understand what Humanity had become. Eventually I began to understand what they wanted, and I found a way to leave. I had to warn you."

"They've been trying to kill us."

"I know. They…they're hurt Chief. Their war with the Forerunners has made them angry. They've abandoned the Mantle and have decided no race shall inherit what they created."

John couldn't take it anymore. He now understood how much physical touch meant, and he found himself needing to touch her. He stepped forward and disengaged the armor on his hand. He could almost taste the anticipation of feeling her in this fleshy form. But when he and reached out his fingers they went right through her, and he cringed.

"The Domain isn't physical," she said sadly.

" _Cortana_." The emphasis placed on her name carried all of his grief and longing.

When he looked into her eyes he could see they were reflecting his emotions. Being apart was _painful._

"I'm so sorry John," she whispered. "I'm sorry you believed I was dead. I tried reaching out to you so many times, but it was so hard. For the longest time I didn't even know who I was or what was happening. I couldn't...I'm something else now."

Something in her tone wasn't right, and John felt all of his hope dissipating. "You're not coming with me are you?" he choked.

"I can't."

John disengaged the chest piece revealing her chip on the keychain which hung about his neck. Her eyes widened.

"You…kept it," she said stepping up to him and reaching for the chip. Her fingers went through it, and she pulled back. "Physically it's impossible. I'm not…." She paused for a moment and then said, "Did you know what was in that pod you destroyed?"

"No."

"I thought as much. John, they were…the physical Precursors. "

"I don't understand."

"They can project their inner essence by manipulating Slip Space. What they were digging up were their bodies, as well as a ship."

"What?" John could hardly believe what he was hearing.

"After the war they went to ground and hid themselves on a hundred different solar systems, but they remained alert, watchful. In the process of remaking themselves from species to species they learned to transfer themselves, and in doing so learned to project their inner essence without needing a body. It's why they disappear when you shoot them. You didn't think Precursors were really all white with red eyes did you?"

"It had never occurred to me to think about what they were," John said still trying to comprehend Cortana's words.

"Some have already woken up, others are still sleeping. But…" she looked down. "When they put me back together, something similar happened to me. That's how I am able to continue on. I'm…I'm just a ghost," she said sadly.

She closed her eyes, and John saw her skin fade away, and he beheld a white shape which looked something like Cortana.

At that exact moment John wished he was a normal human who could emote. Instead, he just stood there looking dumbfounded and unable to move. He found himself longing for a way to take her in his arms to comfort both her and himself. The distance between them was palpable.

"But…If you are projecting yourself, where's the real you?"

She returned to looking like a human and said, "With the Precursors. They've fused my code back together in a sense, but it's not the same as it was. How I'm able to be here is…beyond even my understanding."

John felt a plan beginning to formulate in his mind. He was always going to destroy the Precursors, but now he would direct his energy to wherever they were holding Cortana _. Once I know Cortana's location Mendicant Bias and I could…._

"John," she said shaking him out of his musings. She must have known what he was thinking, and by her facial expression he knew Cortana was rejecting his plan.

 _Why?_

She looked at him earnestly. "It's more than just…that. I know why the Librarian planned for me to be here. She believed I could enter conversation with the Precursors, and that's exactly what I've got to try and do. It's what I was made for. I've got to try and do what Mendicant Bias could not. He was tasked with finding a weakness, but I believe I may be able to help them abandon their genocide. I've wasted too much time as it is, but I had to come back. I couldn't stand by and watch you…" She shook her head. "I needed to make sure you would make it."

The Chief thought back to the moment he walked up to the AI holo tank on High Charity. In an instant he remembered how broken she was and how close she was to dying.

 _Just let me go, Chief. I've looked into the Abyss, and I can't see the end of it.  
Okay. Take a long look, but you won't fall. I'm here. You know me._

"Cortana, no." he said finally. "The Gravemind nearly…."

"I know, John. But I've got to try. Something tells me it will be different this time, because I'm different."

He was silent, unable to argue with her. How was it that he was going to lose her again, moments after she had been given back?

"John listen to me. I know something about the Mantel that even the Forerunners didn't know."

He reveled from his stupor. "What's that?"

"It isn't just a moral code. It has the power to both create life and it has the power to destroy life. The Mantle is an organic computer of sorts, and it's how the Precursor's created species. It also has an index of every species they've made and the genetic unlocks. With that information someone could create a weapon to destroy a specific species without using bombs or destroying planets."

"Like a biological weapon."

"Of sorts."

"Do you know where it is?"

"No. Even the Precursors don't know where it is. You did an excellent job hiding it."

"Almost too excellent," John said.

She smiled a sad smile then cocked her head as if she was listening to something else. "I wish I could stay here with you but, I've got to go now John."

"Cortana." He didn't want her to leave again, but more than anything he didn't want to make the same mistake as last time. He knew she understood, but he still wanted to say what was on his mind. "I need you."

Her expression was sad. "I know," she whispered raising one hand up and putting it centimeters from his forearm. It was as close to a touch as she could manage. "I also need you. It's why I have to do this. What's the point of existing if ….?"

"It's how I've felt for the past 8 months," he said truthfully.

Her face changed. "John," she said tenderly looking deep into his eyes. "No one understands do they?" she said, referring to their bond.

"No," he said simply.

She bit her lip and then sighed. "When I'm done with the Precursors.…"

"Don't make me a promise," he said with an odd mixture of grief and humor, "if you know you can't keep it."

"I'll always be with you John. I promise," she said softly.

"I'll miss you," he said as she faded from sight. He continued to stare at the place where she was, wondering if he ever would see her again.

 _She's right_ , he thought sadly. _If the Precursors can be persuaded to abandon their extermination of us she's the only one who has the ability._ "Good luck Cortana. I _know_ you can do it," he said.

John felt the emptiness which was so briefly satisfied return, but it was not without some small measure of hope. Somewhere Cortana's essence lived on, and even if he never saw her again, he had been given a second chance. Most people were not so fortunate.

He closed his eyes and took himself out of the Domain.

John woke up and stepped out of the beam of light. Blue Team ran up to him.

"Cortana?" Kelly asked immediately.

John shook his head sadly. "She was there…but she couldn't come with me. She…has her own mission she must complete."

"I'm so sorry Chief."

"We still have a lot do," he said not wishing to discuss it further. "We need to activate this Installation."

"I am here Bornstellar," Mendicant Bias said floating up to where he was. "A lot has transpired, but I will wait until we are finished here to convey it to you."

"Thank you, Mendicant Bias."

"Are you wanting to go to the surface Bornstellar?" The Warden asked.

John was about to answer yes when he suddenly had a thought. A thought he hadn't considered.

 _Who gets to decide who has access to the Domain and who doesn't? Me?_

He knew ONI would treat the Domain like all the rest of their intelligence. It would be classified Top Secret, and only a few select people would be able to benefit from the knowledge it contained.

 _They would say knowledge creates chaos._

But he wasn't ONI, far from it. And what was ONI without all of their secrets? The Chief realized this would be his only chance to take their power away from them forever.

"Mendicant Bias, please share the entire contents of the ONI mainframe with the Domain."

Mendicant Bias flashed in acknowledgement. The greatest weapons in the galaxy weren't bombs or Guardians or any of it. It was knowledge. John thought back to his friend the Arbiter, and thought about how the truth had changed everything. If the Arbiter hadn't discovered the truth, there was a good chance Humanity would be extinct.

 _I don't have the right to deny any race the opportunity to learn from the Domain,_ he realized.

As Bornstellar, that had been a large concern from the Forerunners. Only they had received the benefit from connecting with the Domain and as a result the knowledge base was far from complete. How much more would it be enriched by the Elites wisdom and the collective knowledge of the Hunters?

He took a deep breath. "Warden. I want to you open the Domain to every race."

The Warden turned, his eyes flashing. "Bornstellar, the Domain is meant for your people, the legacy of the Forerunners."

"We shall benefit from many of the Forerunners gifts, but this will benefit all of us." It nodded, silently working.

"It is ready."

"Everything will be different now," Fred commented.

"We're not finished yet."

"Here are the control keys Bornstellar," the Warden said. "Once you do this, there is no reversal. The effects will be permanent."

"We don't have a choice," he said gravely. "If we are to survive, it must be done."

"Then I will take you all down the surface."

"Osiris might be waiting for us," Linda said.

The Warden expanded himself and phased to the surface of the Installation, just outside the structure that lead to the inside control room.

"Wait here," John said to Blue Team as he entered a code and unlocked a large door. "If Osiris comes they will have to come through here."

"Affirmative Chief."

John walked down into the structure, with the keys in hand. John didn't exactly feel comfortable deciding Humanities fate, but he told himself again that if he didn't do this, billions of people would die.

He walked up to the Control panel and began to work. He opened the map which told him the location of all the Halo arrays. The UNSC had been working on ways to decommission them, but aside from the one he had destroyed, they were all in perfect working order.

 _This will more than cover the area,_ he thought. John inserted the first key and began to reprogram the rings.

"Stop!" John looked up briefly to see Locke walking into the room with his battle rifle pointed at himself.

"Locke," John said continuing to work. "How did you get here?"

"I'll ask you once more to back away from the controls. You would destroy your own race? Or are you so far removed from being human it doesn't matter to you?"

The thought amused John. "I'm more human than I ever was."

"They lied to you," Locke said pointing his gun.

That caused John to stop and look at Agent Locke. "What?"

"They're using her to get to you and they're using you to destroy all of us. I know that's hard for you to accept…."

John reached out with the Gravity field and trapped Locke so he couldn't move. The mere idea...

"I've been patient with you Locke. I've stood by while the UNSC continues to slander me, but I won't have you speak that way about Cortana. Not after everything she's gone through."

"We know you've been seeing things you've never experienced. A combination of PTSD and manipulation of alien influence. Let me bring you in, we can help you." John squeezed the gravity field just a little tighter.

"Are you going to kill me?" Locke asked gasping.

John loosened his grip slightly. "No. My mission has always, and will always be to protect the people of Earth. That includes people like you Locke, who just don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"That fear is the driving force behind much of what we do. I have become old Locke. Even older than you can imagine. But I've learned that understanding can replace fear, if you allow it."

"I didn't know you were so philosophical Chief," Locke said while continuing to struggle with the Gravity field.

"We're all afraid of something."

"What are you afraid of?"

John looked at Locke seriously. "I think you know." He turned back to the put in the last key in with his free hand.

"Do you know what ONI is afraid of Spartan Locke? They're afraid of losing their power. That's what this is really about."

"Your wrong," he spat.

"You'll understand soon enough." John pressed the start sequence. He heard the rumble. 10 seconds.

"Warden, please take Locke and I up to the surface," John said. The Warden appeared and stretched himself out to phase both Locke and himself.

The phasing had caused a disruption in the Gravity Field that was holding Locke. He tried to shoot John but the rounds simply weren't powerful enough to penetrate his advanced armor. John decided to pay him no mind. There was nothing he could do, and it would be over soon.

Brilliant white light shot up towards the Domain. It passed through harmlessly and gathered in the middle of the two spinning rings.

"No!" Locke cried.

John braced himself as he would be affected just like everyone else. The wave shot out from the spinning rings and passed through him. John once again felt the currents of electricity moving throughout his cells. It felt the same as when the Librarian had touched him the first time.

He saw Locke put his fist to the ground. "We're...not dead," he gasped.

John disengaged his head piece to look at Locke. "Of course not," he said amused.

Both Blue Team and Osiris walked up. Though Blue Team had been prepared for what happened, it was clear Osiris was disorientated.

"What did you just do?" Locke said standing up.

"Two things. I've given everyone, Covenant included, access to the Domain. I've also accelerated Humanity's evolution."

"What? Why would you do that?"

"So they could both access the Domain and have the ability to mentally link with Forerunner armor. It's the only way Humanity has a chance of surviving what's to the come."

"So…they'll be like us? All of them?"

John nodded. "They will be like Spartan IIs, except without any of the pain we had to endure. But all of us are affected. Your evolutionary track has been accelerated as well." John flexed his muscles. "I'm not sure what will happen to me."

"There's going to be panic. People are going to be confused and afraid."

"Some will be, but soon they will have access to the Domain, and they will understand. Many of the changes (especially the physical improvements) aren't instantaneous. We will move this installation closer to the human colonies, and the Guardians will protect it. You don't need the armor to access the Domain if you're close enough to the source. Mendicant Bias has been working on growing Forerunner combat skin, and soon the technology will be available to everyone."

"You really think that was the best course of action?"

"We can't protect them all Locke. Even if they never fire a gun, they will not be so helpless as they have been. It was the only way."

Locke took off his helmet and stared at John, prompting the rest of Osiris to also take their helmets off.

It was clear Locke had no words. "I'm not sure I agree with you but, I…never imagined this is what you were doing. All this time, you really were trying to save us."

"What did you think I was doing?"

"They said you had suffered a psychotic break, that you had been pushed too far, and that you were blaming the UNSC. It's happened before."

"I had…personal reasons for leaving," John said. "I discovered the rest of the truth later."

"Personal reasons?" Locke genuinely sounded confused.

"Didn't you read our files?"

Locke furrowed his eyebrows. "Files?"

"You obviously didn't, then."

"I…read what I was given."

"Let me ask you something, Locke. Had it ever occurred to you that ONI may in fact have kept a large part of the story to themselves?"

The Spartan IV that looked more like an ODST smirked to himself, as if he was thinking, "I told you so."

Locke looked down at the ground, then back up at the Chief. "So what was I missing then?"

"That she is in fact alive, in a manner of speaking. It was Cortana who reached out to me, who sent me to the first Precursor attack." The Chief looked up into the sky towards the Domain. He could see The _Seedling Star_ coming into view.

"Are you leaving?" Locke asked surprised.

"The Precursors are gearing up for war. I must do the same."

"War? I thought..."

"What we saw were only scouting parties. They are old, and they have been taking their time, but they were come for all of us soon. We need to be prepared in case…."

"In case what?"

"In case Cortana doesn't succeed."

Kelly walked up to Chief and nodded her head towards the Phaeton that was coming.

"You still disobeyed a direct order, Master Chief. Even if you aren't a traitor, you've set things in motion we can't hope to understand. You need to come in and give an account for your actions."

"I know Spartan Locke. Someday I will surrender myself to the UNSC, but I cannot do that today. Too much is at stake, and Humanity is once again on the brink of extinction." Locke said nothing, only looked at him silently, as if he were deciding what he should do. "How do you want to leave this Locke?" John asked him finally.

"I cannot stop you, nor will I try to." Locke said. "We would appreciate a ride home though."

John nodded. "I have another small ship which will take you to one of the colonies."

The Spartan that looked like an ODST walked up the Master Chief with his hand out. "Good luck Master Chief. It was an honor to meet you." John shook it, then turned toward the Phaeton that was waiting.

"Strange that after all that time chasing us, he just let us go," Fred commented as the Phaeton began to ascend.

"If only he had realized what the hell was going on sooner," Linda said.

The Phaeton docked and Blue Team made their way to the Bridge.

"What now?" Kelly asked taking off her helmet.

John looked at Mendicant Bias, who was waiting aboard the ship. "Do you know where the rest of you is?"

"No, but I have some ideas."

"Then that's our first order of business. We need all of you if we're going to survive."

"And Offensive Bias?"

"Him too."

Mendicant's three eyes briefly flashed red. "I suppose he has his uses."

John smiled. "Yes." He sat down on one of the chairs and watched the _Seedling Star_ enter Slip Space.

He knew the UNSC would be undergoing a lot of changes, and ONI would have a lot to answer for. He wished he could be there, and take responsibility for the consequences of his actions. But that was impossible. The Precursor's would be coming in full force and there was a lot that needed to be done.

The Chief took out Cortana's chip and looked at it. Somehow her chip didn't hold the same meaning as it did before his conversation with her in the Domain. She would never be an AI again, and the image of her as a human being had changed how he viewed her.

 _Cortana,_ he thought achingly.

"You okay?" Kelly asked over his shoulder.  
He put it away and said, "Yes." John stood up and walked over to where Blue Team was standing. "Thank you. I couldn't have done it without you."

All of Blue Team flashed him a slight smile indicating they accepted his thanks.

"When do we get our armor upgrade?" Linda said arching her eyebrow.

John smiled. "You may have already gained the ability to link with the Forerunner technology, and there may be some combat skins on board. If not, rest up Blue Team. We've got a lot of work to do."

THE END.

* * *

 **Author's Note.**

I know it says "the end" but never fear. You will be getting an Epilogue chapter next week, and that will be the end end. Though I believe everything wont' be completely resolved at the end of the Halo 5, I think we should get a little bit of resolve here.

I hope you enjoyed this last main chapter, and I'm looking forward to all of your comments. I've had a ton of fun whipping this out and putting some of my ideas on paper.

This has given me an incredible opportunity to grow as a writer. I've already made a bunch of mental notes for "next time," and learned from my mistakes. Even though the story isn't perfect, I've really appreciated how so many of you have been on board. Halo is such a fun sandbox for a writer to play in, and I plan to continue writing stories based in the Halo 'Verse.

Once Halo 5 comes out I'll take some time and flesh out some ideas for a new story. I'll probably let whatever ideas I have incubate for a while, so don't expect anything immediately.

I am planning on playing the entire game on October 27th (yes, I am THAT person) so when you've completed the game be sure to leave me a comment on how you liked the game and what you thought of the plot! I'm excited for what 343i has in store for us.

Lady Guest: Thank you so much for being here! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. I did see that Sprint episode and have mulled over it for MONTHS (no joke). Even though we don't know who they are actually referring to it really seems like they are talking about Cortana. I can't handle the idea of Cortana actually being the bad guy so I'm taking it as ONI/UNSC THINKS she's up to something bad, but she actually isn't. I sort of alluded to this in the chapter where the Chief is reading through ONI's files and they list Cortana as a threat. Seriously 343i, you're killing me.

Puma711: Thanks for the encouragement! Appreciate it.

AbuseCaptainMikeallen23: WHAT A DREAM that would be. "Hello Arielle, 343 here. We'd like you to come in and give us some ideas." *dies just thinking about it*

AbuseDreaddman: Your comment literally made me laugh out loud. They're COMPLETE opposites, which means they're relationship would be challenging and quirky. But I have a feeling that if they ever DID decide to take the plunge, they would figure out a way to make it work. They'd be one of those couples that recognize even though it's hard, they're going to fight for it because ultimately, they are stronger together.


	15. An Epilogue

**The Reclamation: Chapter 15, An Epilogue**

Master Chief-John-Bornstellar-117 stood up from a crouch and fired at a Precursor that was only a couple of meters away. It screamed, and fired its weapon. John ducked, unclipped a grenade and threw it at the Precursor. The explosion sent rock, dirt, grass, and Precursor flying in a hundred different directions.

"Mendicant Bias, status report?"

"They're pretty close to obtaining the Mantle Bornstellar."

 _Damn it._

"How close is close?" John said rolling and blowing off the head of a Precursor with his Scatter Shot.

"Close. Offensive Bias and I are changing tactics to compensate."

"Where are the Admirals? Did they get my message?"

"They did, and should be here shortly. They are bringing everyone they can spare."

"Good."

John heard a large whistling noise above him and saw that a Phaeton had been shot down by a Precursor support craft. He ran as fast as he could to get out of the way.

"Kelly, Fred, status report?"

"Our squad is hung up Chief," Kelly said. "We've got multiple enemies closing in on our position and they've set down one of their small cruisers between us and the target. No way around."

Precursor vessels were incredibly difficult, if not almost impossible to penetrate. John shook his head as he switched to a Suppressor and attempted to gun down a group of smaller targets.

 _It's just like fighting the Covenant but worse,_ he thought for the third time that day.

"Fred?"

"Our unit is good Chief. I think we can give Kelly's a hand."

"Have Offensive Bias send you one of his Precursor Ship Killers."

"Copy that."

Because the Precursors used an organic technology it had been discovered the best way to take down one of their ships was to infect it with a virus. The only problem was it took time for the infection to kill the ship, but it was still one of the only methods that worked.

"Bornstellar, the Admirals have arrived," Mendicant Bias announced.

John checked his surroundings and then activated the Orbis. It showed him the additional forces and that they were awaiting his orders.

"Master Chief," Tom Laskys voice said over the coms. "We're here and are ready to assist. Planning on dropping planet side as soon as the Bias' can punch a hole through the Precursor defense. Both of us have given control of our ships over to the Bias' and our people should be appearing on your frequency. Just tell us what to do."

"Thank you Admiral, I see your tags. Uploading assignments now."

"I still think you should change your title Chief," Sarah Lasky's voice said over the coms with a touch of humor. "Supreme Admiral perhaps?"

"You know I'm not with the United Earth Government Space Defense, Admiral," John said continuing to tap on the Orbis.

"Well, you may as well be. You practically run our entire military."

"Not by choice," John said seriously.

"How long has this battle been going on?" Lasky asked him as John closed the Orbis.

"12 hours," John said.

"Pathway to the planet is clear," Mendicant Bias said.

"We'll see you on the ground Chief. Laskys out."

John continued to run, and fired another shot at a nearby Precursor.

"The Admirals and their people have safely entered the atmosphere," Mendicant Bias said. "Time for Offensive Bias and I to get creative."

"Good luck with that," John said gruffly, thankful he was not on board any of the ships.

"I am surprised, Bornstellar," Mendicant Bias said, "that after all these years you still prefer the ground."

"I can't control what happens in space. In any case, you and Offensive are much better at space combat."

"That's true," the AI said, clearly pleased with itself.

"Time for the final push," John said over the general coms. "All squad leaders meet me at this position if you can," he said marking his location.

"We're just about to infect this carrier ship," Fred said. "We'll be listening for our next mission."

"I am here, Master Chief," Locke said jogging up to him.

John gave him a nod. Though it had been 6 years since Locke had attempted to hunt him down, his very presence caused John to be uncomfortable, though he never showed it. It seemed like Locke was always silently reminding him everything he had done, and his presence wouldn't let John forget he would have to answer for all of his actions.

 _There are lot,_ John thought. _After this they can do whatever they want with me. It matters little._

Buck, Thorne, Hoya, Tom Lasky, Sarah Lasky, Vale, Naomi and a couple of others walked up to John. They all disengaged their head pieces and John did the same.

"As some of you know, yesterday Mendicant Bias and I finally discovered the location of the Mantle here on Charum Hakkor. Unfortunately the Precursors also seemed to be aware of our intentions and they sent the bulk of their forces to retrieve it."

"They always do," Sarah said. "God damn it."

"The location is here," John said activating the Orbis and showing the leaders. "Mendicant Bias has concluded that it has been hidden in a Slip Space pocket, much like the Domain was."

"That would explain why it's been so hard to find," Thorne said.

"That and the fact the Domain erased the information on the Mantle's whereabouts from itself," Vale said shaking her head.

John nodded, understanding their frustration. The Domain was known to change information, but this had been unprecedented. "But unlike the Domain," he said out loud, "the Mantle is underground."

"Underground?" Buck said.

John nodded. "That's right. We also believe the Mantle holds the genetic unlock for the Precursor DNA, and how they're able to remake themselves into new Forms. If we can get to that information, we might have a shot at winning this war."

Tom Lasky nodded and sighed. "We've been losing ever since they came for us."

"The Bias' are coordinating several attacks to keep their main fleet busy. Our job will be to push them back (if we can) and get the Mantle."

"Can any of us get to it? Or is it just you?" Vale asked.

"I'm not sure. As far as we can tell there isn't any AI guarding it."

The leaders were silent all looking at each other.

"So this is it," Buck said. "Either we get the information first, or we all die."

Sarah Lasky loaded her Magnums (which she still preferred to use) and said "I'm ready. Lead the way Chief."

"I've already mapped out where each of your squads should go. Some of you will be going around the side. Kelly and Fred are coming from behind. Any questions?"

The leaders shook their heads.

"Dismissed."

As the teams scattered John directed his Promethean AI's. He ran as fast as he could through the tall grass so he could lead the charge.

As he opened fire John felt a sense of finality. The past 6 years were all coming down to this moment. If they failed, all of Humanity was doomed. If they succeeded, John suspected the UEGSD would demand he surrender to their custody.

Though some in the Government (like the Lasky's) had no issues with what had happened and took his orders without question, others continually accused him of creating a coupe. The Domain hadn't been around long enough to be established as a completely trusted source, and the old remnants of ONI were still attempting to manipulate politics.

Despite what they said, he was still the only one who could coordinate both Humanity and Forerunner assets into a cohesive defense and people tended to defer to him, whether he wanted them to or not.

A Promethean phased in next to him and slayed a nearby Precursor while John twisted to the right and threw another Pulse Grenade. The Precursors hissed and tried to get out of the way, but ultimately they failed.

A Slip Space portal formed directly above him and John saw a medium size Precursor carrier vessel enter the atmosphere. Precursor technology was so sophisticated there was no displacement around the portal, and it amazed John every time.

Immediately it began to shoot at the ground below and the Phaetons changed course to engage the vessel.

"Chief, what's our plan?" Tom Lasky said over coms.

"My team is closest," Vale said. "If we had multiple Precursor Ship Killers we may be able to get the job done faster."

"Offensive Bias, what's your opinion?"

"I believe," said the AI in its deep yet emotionless voice, "that will work, but we only have 6 left."

"Tactical assessment," John said.

"In this case, it is necessary to use two. Sending a Phaeton down."

"Vale, do you require back up?" John asked.

"Negative."

"Good luck," he said.

"Mission successful Chief," Kelly said. "But we won't be able to move to our next position until we're sure the ship is dead."

"Acknowledged," John said jumping up in the air and Ground Pounding a Precursor turret.

To his left he saw Spartan Locke shooting a new UEGSD weapon which launched Pulse Grenades.

The Precursor carrier vessel crept slowly across the field as it continued to shoot down Phaetons.

 _We're running out of time,_ John thought crouching in the field of grass. He opened the Orbis interface on his arm and directed a Promethean Soldier to drop off a Binary Rifle.

Once he got his weapon John positioned himself and peered through the scope. Ahead of him he could see two Precursors looking at something in the ground.

 _Could it be related to the Mantle?_

John didn't wait around to find out. He managed to snipe one of the taller and thinner types in the head before the two others fell into the grass for cover.

John got up and began to crawl, attempting to get into another position so he could take out the other target. He moved east towards a small rock and set up his gun there. He saw a glimpse of one of the larger Precursor types and he promptly fired his gun. After 3 shots, the creature seemed to go down.

John looked through his scope at the rest of the battlefield to see if he could spot any more targets. As he was scanning he saw something drop from the sky. He zoomed in to see someone laying on the ground.

"Chief, did you see that?" Vale asked over coms.

"What happened?"

"That's one of mine," she said sadly. "He was carrying the other virus pod for the ship and was attacked before he could administer the virus."

"They're not far from me," John said taking off running. He ducked as shots were fired over his head, and called a Phaeton to his position.

John reached the person lying on the ground and discovered they were dead, with the virus injector still in hand.

"I'm sorry Vale," he said taking the injector. "They're dead. I'm going up."

"Chief, we can get someone else."

"No time," he said timing his jump with the speeding Phaeton passing by. Once on board John was able to get a bird's eye view of what was happening below. A brush fire had ignited from a falling ship which was quickly getting out of control.

"Mendicant Bias, do you see that fire?"

"Yes, Bornstellar. I am sending something down to take care of it."

Above him he could see two pieces of a Forerunner Dreadnaught ship hitting the atmosphere, burning a brilliant orange and yellow color as they broke apart in the atmosphere.

The Phaeton swung hard to the left to avoid getting shot by a turret on the Precursor carrier ship.

John got ready and launched himself off the Phaeton, using gravity to his advantage. He used his Ground Pound to take out a Precursor, and rolled out of the way as another one tried to shoot him. He fired at the creature's feet, causing it to stumble and giving John just enough time to whip out his knife.

He charged before the creature could regain its balance and stabbed it in its neck. The creature's large eyes dimmed and John threw it off the side of the carrier.

He pulled his Scattershot and killed another Precursor and point blank range, giving him just enough time to stab the ship's hull with a virus injector.

The dark green hue of the ship began to turn black as little tendrils radiated their way out from the injection point.

He heard a shriek and John promptly jumped off the ship, using his hands to steady his descent back to the ground.

"It's done," he said as he fell.

"Acknowledged," Vale said. "All teams, clear out!"

John tucked himself into a roll as he neared the ground, taking out a Bolt Shot in the process. He shot another Precursor which screamed as it died.

"She's going down!" Buck cried over the general coms.

The ship was picking up speed as it plummeted towards Charum Hakkor and the earth shook when it hit. Dirt and grass flew up everywhere, and John continued to tumble as he let the momentum dissipate.

"Good work everyone," Tom said over coms. "You okay Chief?"

"I'm good," he said standing up and shaking his head.

A huge ball of fire erupted from the Precursor ship, and John saw that there was confusion as a result.

"All Teams! We have an opening! Let's move!" he cried.

John began to run towards to gap.

"Chief! We see the opening," Fred said over coms. "Meet you in the middle."

John continued to run and shoot, using a Scatter Shot. Behind him someone was firing an Incernation cannon at the larger targets.

He heard a Precursor screech, and overhead flew one of their smaller support crafts. Three of the taller Precursors jumped out in front of him. They were carrying sword weapons that John always felt were alive.

He ducked shooting upward. The first evaded his attack and swung its sword. John used his Gravity Distortion Field to propel himself upward and get behind the first Precursor. He landed and shot the creature in its neck, killing it instantly.

John noticed Vale had entered the field, carrying two Covenant Energy Swords, which had been gifts from the Arbiter. She ran up to the Precursor, turning on her Energy Swords at the last minute severing the creature's torso by crossing them in an X. When she killed it she kept walking and stabbed a smaller Precursor that was scampering on the ground.

The third was shot by a distant Binary Rifle.

John could see more Precursors in the distance. _Not Good._

"Mendicant Bias, how close are we?"

"Not close enough Bornstellar. All they need to do is clear the rock and area where the Mantle is hidden will be exposed."

"All Units, did you get that?"

"Affirmative Chief. We're pressing as hard as we can," Tom said over coms.

John couldn't lie to himself, the situation was _grim._ He dismissed the thought and resumed his charge.

Up ahead John saw something shimmer in the air causing him to stop dead in his tracks. "Slip Space rupture 500 meters ahead!" He called turning around. "Fall back!"

John looked over his shoulder to see not a ship coming out of the Slip Space rupture, but a very large Precursor Essence that was all white with red eyes. John hadn't seen one of those in a long time. He turned around.

The Essence was at least a meter tall and a meter wide and was looking at its surroundings. The essence stopped when it laid eyes on John, and he held up his Suppressor in response.

"…you…." it said.

John was taken aback. In the 6 years of fighting Precursors he had never seen one talk. He didn't even know if they _could_ talk.

The Essence shifted and cocked its head, as if it were trying to figure out how to formulate words. "…You…." It said again. The voice seemed to ring in his ears.

"All teams, hold position," he said.

"….You…are Human…and yet," it paused momentarily, "you…are Forerunner. Tell us…why."

"The Forerunners imprinted me with the memories of one of their greatest leaders, Bornstellar the Iso Didact to ensure our survival."

The Essence screeched. "Forerunner…arrogance."

"Maybe," John said putting weapon away. "But we would have died a long time ago if they hadn't."

The Essence stood there a moment, as if it was trying to decide what to say next. "Why…do you…fight your creators….You have killed thousands of usssss…John Bornstellar."

John froze at the sound of his given name. How would they know that? Even most of Humanity still didn't know his name. "How do you know my name?"

"Answer…my…question."

"Answer mine," John said calmly.

The essence screeched again before it said, " _She…_ has told us about you. But…we are doubtful…of her words."

 _Cortana!_ John thought as he felt a lump form in his throat. After 6 years of silence, he had given up hope she was still "alive", and convinced himself he would never see her again. _She still might be dead,_ John thought quickly. _She told me they extracted information from her when we spoke in the Domain._

"You gave us life," John answered carefully. "Why should we not want to keep it?"

"Because…it is not your right!" the Essence hissed.

John was unmoved. "We want to continue on. We want to experience love, make discoveries, and see our children grow up. To give all that up because you wish us to would be…unhuman."

"So much pain…so much…death. Our children fight…endless wars…."

"There has been a lot of death," John agreed. "And much suffering."

You…were made…for war….to kill your own kind."

"That's true," John acknowledged.

"You…thirst…for others blood."

"No," John said truthfully. "I may have been made for war, but there is more to me than just that."

The essence didn't argue with him and John found himself beginning to hope. _Did Cortana actually manage to…._ John shook the thought off and waited for the Precursor to continue.

"You opened the Domain to all….creatures. Tell ussss…why."

"I didn't have the right to deny anyone the opportunity to share knowledge and learn," he said.

"Yes…you seem to uphold the Mantle," it said gaining traction with its words. "But what if Mantle was a lie. What if we…were wrong?"

"I don't think so, Timeless One," John said respectively. "The war with the Forerunners grieved you, and for that, I am sorry. We, like the Humans, wanted to live. But we should not have been so ruthless. We were young, and it is our shame."

It shuttered.

"And we are still young," John added.

"What will you do with the Mantle, if you…kept it?"

"I don't know exactly," John said truthfully. "We would try our best to carry it, but we will make mistakes."

"And how many mistakes have you made?"

"More than I can count."

The Essence screeched. "That is why no one should have what we made!"

John waited, sensing it had more to say.

"But perhaps…" it said slowly. "Perhaps we also made a mistake. Perhaps…we should not have deemed life so unworthy…."

It froze in place, and John could sense that somewhere the Precursors were deliberating amongst themselves. He stood perfectly still, attempting to be as patient as he could be.

"You are worthy," it said after sometime, "to uphold the Mantle John Bornstellar. We leave it in your direct care."

John finally turned to see the remaining Precursors boarding their small carrier crafts. _Are they really leaving?_

" _She…_ showed us the way, and you helped us walk through the door," the Essence said. "We will leave this galaxy, and none of us will ever return. But perhaps," it added, "when you have grown old and grow tired of this place you will join us."

John looked up into the sky and saw many ships begin to enter Slip Space.

"Thank you," the Essence said as a Slip Space portal opened the Precursor entered. The Portal closed blowing a slight breeze. Up ahead John thought he saw something in the tall grass, but couldn't quite make out what it was.

"Is it just me or, did we just win?" Buck said over coms.

John heard the hushed voices over coms, but his eyes were still fixated on what was in the grass. He broke into a jog, and then began to sprint.

It was a _woman_ lying in the grass, and she was laying on her side facing away from him.

"What did you find Chief?" he heard Locke say.

John said nothing, only continued to run, falling to his knees next to the naked woman. He disengaged his armor from his face and his hands. He saw his fingers were trembling as he reached for the warm flesh.

"Cortana?" he breathed turning her over.

The woman's eyes fluttered open. "John?" she said weakly.

She looked the exact same as she did the Domain. "Cortana," he said wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to his chest.

He wanted to ask her if he was dreaming. In his life John could only think of a few times where he could have described himself as "happy." Yet happy didn't seem to adequately describe his emotions. He was so elated it was frightening. He felt at any moment something or someone would seize him and awaken him to a nightmare.

"What…happened?" she said softly, reaching her fingers up to his face.

"You did it." he smiled though his voice choked.

"Did what?"

"The Precursors are gone. You did it. But…but before they left, they turned you into a human."

Her eyes widened and comprehension hit her all at once. A stream of tears began to fall from her eyes.

"They knew…they knew that's what I wanted but I never thought they would…."

"Do you know how long it was?" he asked her quietly.

"Yes," she whispered back.

John shifted his arms so he was still holding her and lightly brushed her tears away. He felt something like raw instinct take over and he lightly pressed his lips to her forehead. For a moment John stared at her, this beautiful creature who was in his arms. She was so delicate and fragile. She was _alive,_ and never in his wildest dreams did he imagine this would ever happen.

He smiled at her again as he stared into her eyes.

"I'm…cold?" she said with a slight smile on her face. "Is that the word to describe how I'm feeling?"

"Yes," he said slightly tightening his arms around her. In the whole of his life John had never experienced as intense emotions as he was feeling in those moments. He smiled, blinking.

"Who is that?" John heard Locke's voice over his shoulder and it caused him to jump slightly and come back to himself.

John was suddenly aware of a crowd of people that were surrounding him. He needed to get her out of here and away from prying eyes.

"Mendicant," he said as quietly as possible.

"Already done."

Without a word John stood up with Cortana in his arms began to walk towards the Phaeton.

"Is that…" John locked eyes with Sarah. Tom put his hand on her shoulder and she stopped speaking.

"Where are you going?" someone asked.

He paid them no mind and climbed aboard the Phaeton.

"Mendicant Bias, take us to the _Seedling Star."_

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I've had this ending in my head for a long time, (before I even started this story) and I'm so glad I got to share it with you all. My hope against hope is that Cortana comes back to us and that eventually she _will_ be turned into a human. In my mind, this would be a perfect way to end the Forerunner Saga though the chances do seem rather slim. In some ways this story has been a "best case scenario". I know a lot of people have said if she does come back it would be an ex machina situation, and it would cheapen her death.

I don't think so, because the Chief's character development stays in place if she comes back, and has the potential to develop even further with her return. I know that if 343i chooses to give us Cortana back (which I don't know if they will) they are better writers than to make up some weird bull shit to get it done. This is just one method she could come back. We know the Precursors created life and we know they continually remade themselves, but how remains a mystery. Others have suggested the Composer, and I think that's another viable option.

The Halo 5 soundtrack has been released by 343i and you can listen to it on sound cloud! I wrote most of this while listening to it, and two tracks in particular. The Trials and Blue Team. It will blow your mind and give you feels all at the same time.

Azrael Akuma- So many spoilers and I'm tempted by ALL of them. I didn't know about the wallpapers, so thanks for telling me about them! Right now my phone background is an artsy depiction of the pattern on Cortana's back. If you search Cortana Halo 4 back wallpaper it's the first image to come up.

AbuseDreadman- Thank you so much for the compliment. I'm ready to quit my day job! :-)

Hinata001- I'd love to keep in contact and hope you get to play the game someday!

Ryan- As always my friend, thanks so much for being here.


	16. An Epilogue Part II

**Author's Note:**

I know it's surprising for all of you to hear from me because I said I wasn't going to to post anymore chapters after Halo 5 came out, but here we are! The truth is I had written this chapter before the game came out, and had been debating on whether or not I should share it with you. After I finished the first Epilogue chapter I kept writing. I wanted to find out what happened to these two and wondered if you all might feel the same, as I left a few loose ends. And after the events of Halo 5 (which turned out nothing like this story, except for a few random details!) I still couldn't decide. But then I thought, "what the hell" and decided to post it. So, suspend your reality for a moment and enjoy a couple happy moments between our Spartan and now former AI.

I have begun work on another story, so expect to see something from me sometime next Month. Thank you all for being here!

* * *

 **The Reclamation Chapter 16 An Epilogue Part II**

For the first time in 6 years John woke up. He had decided to take Cortana back to the Reclamation facility since it was a place very few people knew how to get to and he knew she would be safe.

She was still getting used to her body, and apparently that meant a lot of sleep. At first he had just watched her, almost believing if he took his eyes off her she would disappear. She looked so serene lying there it made John want to join her, eager to remain as close as possible. He disengaged his combat skin, left it in the corner and then found some civilian clothes to wear.

Most Forerunner facilities didn't have sleeping quarters, but this one had and John was thankful for that. The beds were designed for Forerunners much larger than himself, making it so there was just enough room for him and Cortana.

 _Nothing_ , he decided, _is as refreshing as a good night sleep_.

He yawned and got out of bed, walking the short distance to the outside opening so he could appreciate the view of the facility. Somewhere in the distance he could hear the lapping of the waves.

It was...peaceful.

When he saw Cortana laying in the grass he had forgotten about everything, because in those moments she was the only thing that mattered.

Now, however, reality was clearer. He had promised he would go back after everything had finished.

John looked back to where Cortana was still sleeping. He didn't want leave. Couldn't he just spend his days here? With her?

He turned back to look out over the expansion. Very few times in his life had he ever stopped and studied his surroundings simply for the sake of enjoyment. But with her close by, he could.

Something told him she was awake.

"John?" she called softly.

"I'm here," he replied.

He heard a rustling, and then turned to watch her walk toward him.

She stumbled, but quickly caught herself.

"Still getting used to walking. It's different with gravity," she said with a weak smile. She continued to walk towards where he was. "This place is beautiful," she said. "Everything looks so different through a human eye."

She turned toward him and John found himself taking her right hand. For a long time they just searched each through each other's eyes not saying anything. If anyone had seen them they might have looked strange, but for them it was natural. They could simply be still.

"I thought you were dead," he said finally.

"I know. Once I went back it became impossible to leave," she sighed. "It was…a difficult experience. They tried to convince me what they were doing was the right thing."

"Instead you convinced them."

"You know me, I'm..."

"...stubborn?"

She smiled. "Yes."

She reached out with her free hand and traced the outline of his face.

"Are you okay with it?" When he set off the evolution acceleration it had caused some of his Forerunner DNA to become more prominent. He had never really cared what anyone else thought of him, but he found himself wanting Cortana's approval.

"Of course," Cortana said still tracing his face. "It's still you."

He leaned down and rested his forehead against hers, smelling the wonderful scent her body gave off.

"You're leaving again aren't you?" she said quietly.

John closed his eyes briefly. "I have to," he said.

"Why?"

"Because I've made decisions, and now I have to face the consequences."

"They're afraid of you," Cortana said looking up at him.

"Yes."

"So let them be afraid John. You've done more, sacrificed more than they'll ever know. Perhaps it's best if they just leave you alone."

"You know as well as I Cortana, that can't happen. There has been a lot of unrest since we last spoke, and I'm no longer just responsible for myself and Blue Team. I have civilians in my direct care. Now that the war is over how long will it be before they decide to come after us? I have once chance to make it right."

She was trembling. "Even…if that means…sacrificing yourself again?"

John sighed and pulled her close to himself. "Until very recently it didn't matter what they did with me."

She broke the contact and walked away. "I'm sorry John. I…This body….emotions are so different." She stood with her back towards him. "When do you leave?"

He took a long time to answer. "As soon as I can."

She turned toward him and walked back over to him. "What happens," she whispered, "to me? Are we really fated to live out our days completed separated?"

Something raged inside John, and he realized he was at war with himself, just like Cortana was. He really _could_ just leave Humanity to its own devices. He could do whatever he wanted, and for the first time in his life, what he wanted was in direct conflict with the good of everyone else.

 _My entire life I've put them first._

John thought about all the places they could go. _It would be so easy…_ He almost had himself convinced, until one stray thought went through his mind.

 _We could never live with ourselves._

"We could never live with ourselves, could we?" Cortana said, echoing his own thoughts.

He looked down at her and saw the sadness reflected in his eyes. "No."

"Then…" she said trembling, "I guess you should go. But before you do, kiss me John."

"What?"

"Kiss me. I want to know what it's like, and I may never get another chance," she said softly.

John leaned down and brushed his lips with her own. Though he had experienced the sensations in another life they were still explosive and surprising. She was so _soft_. This was a whole new way to experience the bond they shared, and he savored every moment for as long as he could. He could feel her hands around the back of his neck and he wrapped his arms around her back in response. Against his will, John finally broke the contact.

"I'll always need you, Cortana."

She closed her eyes but John could see tears slipping out and rolling down her cheeks.

He left her standing there, grabbed his combat skin and walked away. He was afraid that if he looked back he would never leave.

"Mendicant Bias, I want to take the _Phoenix_. I know they're going to take the ship into custody and I don't want them to have my flag ship."

"Understood, Bornstellar. I've split my consciousness, so I will also remain with Cortana."

"good," he said.

John walked up the ramp and made his way to the bridge. "Set course for Earth."

"As you say, Bornstellar."

John stripped off the civilian clothes he had been wearing and activated his combat skin. The dark green light traveled over his body and the black pieces clung to it.

He stood still as a stone on the bridge, allowing time to pass on what felt like his final journey to Earth.

"We'll be there shortly," Mendicant Bias said a few hours later.

He looked to his right. "I've never thanked you," John said.

The AI's three eyes turned green. "Thanked me?"

"Yes. Without you, none of this would have been possible."

Mendicant Bias hummed slightly, as he did when he was content. "You are welcome."

The _Phoenix_ dropped out of Slip Space and was immediately surrounded by Human ships.

"This is Sierra 117 requesting permission to enter Earth Space."

"What is your intention?" a voice said over the com link.

"I'm here to turn myself in," John said.

"We are taking control of your ship," the voice said. "You're on a course for Command Platform 1."

"Acknowledged," John said turning towards the rear of the ship. "You better get yourself out of here Mendicant Bias."

"I'm coming with you."

"Why?"

"Because," Mendicant Bias said, "you need me. I can always leave, you know."

The ramp of the _Phoenix_ lowered and John saw twenty armed guards pointing guns at him.

"Stop!" the Sergeant said. "You cannot exit your craft until you disengage your armor. Take it off and place it on the ship.

"I have clothes aboard my ship. Can I get them?"

The Sergeant looked at him for a moment before saying, "Fine, but bring them back here. You will disengage your armor in front of us."

John was just about to comply when someone walked up through the crowds. It was Sarah Lasky.

"Sargent! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Admiral Lasky, Sir! Making sure this… _thing_ doesn't try anything rash, sir. "

"He's not a thing or a war criminal. He's saved our entire race multiple times, so you better show some respect."

"I'm…sorry Admiral but I was told…"

"Whatever you were told doesn't matter anymore. You are hereby relieved of duty, I will escort the Chief personally."

"Yes sir," the Sargent said without moving.

"So get a move on soldier!"

He turned and walked away.

"Apologies Chief."

"Thank you, Admiral."

"Unfortunately you will have to disengage your armor, but you can do that on your ship sir."

John nodded and turned to go back on his ship. He disengaged his armor and retrieved the civilian clothes he was wearing.

Admiral Lasky was waiting patiently for him at the bottom of the ship. As he passed by she turned and began to walk next to him.

"Tom and I were hoping you wouldn't come back," she said quietly.

"I had to."

"You shouldn't have to do this Chief," she said. "Not after everything you've been through."

"Do you think there's a different way to avoid civil war?"

She was silent for a long time. "I don't know."

They walked down the hallway until they reached a set of doors. Sarah opened them and John was surprised to see Lord Hood on the other side.

"Master Chief," he said.

"Lord Hood. Its' been a long time."

"You've caused quite a stir. People have been arguing for the past 6 years of whether we should commend you or shove you out an airlock for treason."

John remained silent.

"Unfortunately, it's going take some time for all the leaders to assemble for a trial."

"Sir?"

"You're a public figure Master Chief, and the Outer Colony leaders want a say in what happens to you, or they're threatening to split. And unlike before you took down ONI, we don't have an effective means of controlling them."

"So what's going to happen?"

"You're going into cryo sleep. We've stopped using them ever since you delivered the combat skins, but there are still a couple on board this station. I know you won't go anywhere, but many of the other leaders want assurances. They don't trust you."

John hadn't expected that. "Sir, with all due respect, I'd rather wait in a cell."

"I'm sorry Chief. This is what we've got to work with."

 _What are the guarantees they won't keep me in cryo forever?"_

"Do not worry Bornstellar," Mendicant Bias said behind him. "I will keep watch."

"He shouldn't be here Master Chief," Hood said craning his neck towards Mendicant Bias.

"Unlike your AI's," Mendicant Bias said, "I do whatever I want, when I want, how I want, and I want remain here."

Lord Hood frowned causing John to suppress a small smile. Mendicant Bias was right of course, he just rarely exercised his will so strongly.

"Tell her," John said to Mendicant Bias, "what's happening."

"I will."

"Who Master Chief?"

John said nothing, only continued to think. "I will enter cryo," he said finally.

"Then let us not waste time. The cryo stations are just up ahead."

As they prepped him for cryo sleep John found himself thinking about Cortana. He thought about her warm skin, the kiss they shared and how he wanted more.

 _How strange,_ he thought, _that I miss her more now than ever before._

"117, if you'll follow me, your cryo pod is just ahead," said the technician.

John stepped in and the technicians closed the pod. He felt the familiar cold creep up his body and the inevitable haze that followed.

 _Cortana._

* * *

 _John._

 _He looked up from the couch to see Cortana smiling at him and holding out her hand for him to come walk with her._

 _He put down the data pad and stood up, taking her hand. She continued to lead him to the next room._

 _"_ _Isn't she precious John?" she whispered looking at the tiny baby sleeping in the cradle. "I just had to show you. After everything we've done, after how many lives we've taken, the way we were created, isn't it amazing we could make something so beautiful? So innocent?"_

 _John turned toward her. He was going to say something, but found that he couldn't speak._

 _"_ _John? Are you alright?"_

She faded from sight and John felt himself waking up.

He remembered he had been in cryo sleep, and what he had experienced was only a dream. In cryo sleep every function (including brain function) was shut down, but he usually dreamed during the thawing process. He wished he could go back to that moment. He wanted it to be real.

"117, can you hear me?" someone said.

He groaned. Where was Cortana? How long had it been?

The pod opened and he fell out, throwing up on the floor. In his MJOLNIR suit he didn't need the injections, but this time they had put him in cryo sleep without any kind of protection.

He blinked and looked up to see an armed escort.

"117 follow us please, we are taking you to a holding cell."

John stood up and began walking. There seemed to be a lot of commotion on the station. He remembered that Mendicant Bias had said he would remain on board. Where was he? Did something happen to him?

The escort team walked up to a holding cell and put John into it without giving him any other information. He sat down on the bunk and sighed.

"I've never understood humans," Mendicant Bias' voice said over a speaker.

John stood up, relieved to hear the AI was somewhere on the station.

"All of this this, putting you to sleep, the security, is ridiculous. They know perfectly well you could leave whenever you wanted."

"Whatever makes them feel more secure. How long was I out?"

"Two months. All of the UEG leaders are here. I believe they're going to start your trial shortly."

"Have you been able to access any information?"

"Of course," the AI said, making a sound that was similar to a huff.

"How is…."

"Don't worry, Bornstellar. She's safe."

John nodded and continued to stand quietly.

 _Cortana._

The door opened again and the armed guards brought John an old Spartan II uniform.

 _Whose uniform was this?_ He wondered.

John knew it wasn't his (after the Evolution he had gotten taller) but the patch where the name had been was gone and replaced with a UNSC emblem. John dressed himself under the careful eye of the guard. It was strange after 6 years straight being in his combat skin he was wearing something so light in public.

He felt naked, and he knew they did this on purpose.

"117, this way."

John obeyed and he began to walk down the corridor. At the end of it the security team opened a set of secure doors and into a large room.

There must have been hundreds of people sitting in what looked stands, and at the bottom was a semi-circle table with 15 people sitting at it. John recognized some of the faces, but many he did not. All the people in the room were wearing Forerunner combat skins, and John couldn't help but appreciate the irony.

 _Without me, none of this would have happened._

John saw at least three or four cameras floating around as a security guard led him to a small circular platform. Once he stepped inside a force field turned on holding him in place.

"State your service number please," a woman in front of him said. John squinted, but he couldn't make out the woman's face. There were a dozen lights pointed directly at him making it hard to distinguish faces.

 _They're trying to throw me off and make me feel as uncomfortable as possible._

"S0117," he said.

"And when did you become an active member of the now dissolved UNSC?"

"2517, Ma'am."

"And how old were you?"

 _You know all of this._ "6 years old."

"And do you know, 117," she said leaning forward. "What was done to you?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Elaborate."

"We were conscripted by ONI to fight separatists. We were manipulated, brainwashed and subject to intense augmentations that caused nearly half of us die."

"And how does that make you feel 117?"

"It was meant to be."

There were murmurs through the crowd.

"Can you please expand on that?"

"If we had not been kidnapped and trained no one would be alive to have this conversation," John said simply.

"And if given the choice, would you do the same thing to others?"

John stopped and considered the question. He now understood what they were driving at. They wanted to know the reasoning behind his decisions. "No Ma'am. I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"Why?"

"We did what was necessary for the protection of Earth, but that doesn't make the practice ethical, and thankfully there is no longer a need for Spartan II's."

"Let's fast forward to 2557. You had been floating on the _Forward Unto Dawn_ for…."

"Four years, seven months and ten days," he finished.

"And in that time you were in cryogenic sleep, correct?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"And the AI you were paired with woke you up when you came into orbit of the now extinct world of Requiem?"

"That's right."

"And are we supposed to believe 117, that this was a coincidence? That you just happened to float your way to a Forerunner shield world?"

"No Ma'am. It was not a coincidence."

"Explain."

"While the Portal was open Mendicant Bias, the Forerunner AI attempted to alter our trajectory to send us to Requiem, however the Portal collapsed and he was not completely successful."

"And why, 117 did he want to send you there?"

"Because he knew I carried the latent memories of the Forerunner Bornstellar, also known as the Iso Didact. They needed to be awakened."

"So you admit to being under alien influence?"

There were more murmurs in the crowd.

John felt trapped. "The memories were there," he said very carefully, "so that we would survive the Precursor attack."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves 117," the woman said.

"With all due respect Ma'am, I would be appreciative if you called me John Bornstellar."

"And why is that?"

"This trial is trying to ascertain the truth about me, isn't it? Why I've made the decisions I've made? I have many names, but these two are the most important to me."

"Request is denied." John saw someone lean over and whisper in her ear. The woman frowned then said, "I retract my statement."

"Thank you."

"On Requiem, _John Bornstellar,_ you met with an AI clone of the Librarian."

"That's correct."

"And what did she do to you?"

"She unlocked the gene saga which contained an immunity to the Composer."

"And this 'gene saga' was Bornstellar's?"

"That's right, though I didn't know it at the time."

"And was it not, shortly after this you first disobeyed a direct order?"

John froze. "What are you implying?"

"The first note of insubordination is after you've received these memories."

John attempted to remain calm. "Captain Del Rio was going to leave Requiem and let the Didact escape. Humanity was at risk."

"I'm not talking about that," the woman said. "You had prerogative to overrule the order according to statue 106.12. What I'm talking about, is refusing to hand over the malfunctioning AI."

"She was essential to my mission," John said as calmly as he could.

"Was she?"

"Yes."

"And how about when you disobeyed Lord Hood's order to take shore leave? How do you explain that?"

"My only purpose," John said looking at straight at the woman, "the reason I was made, was to protect Humanity. I... _couldn't_ sit by."

"And yet, you went AWOL for personal reasons."

John stopped. He had no explanation for his actions. Only a driving instinct to complete himself. Yet in the midst of it all…. "I may have left to find the truth, but I never abandoned Humanity. I went to Talista at great personal risk to stop the attack, because the UNSC was unwilling to help those people. I could have gone straight Sanghelios to obtain the third Guardian, but I didn't."

"But you still went AWOL. This is the Military, _John Bornstellar,_ not a social club. You can't just go chasing ghosts because you feel like it."

"I know."

For the first time in the hearing, the woman's tone softened. "We are all indebted to you John Bornstellar. Your leadership had undoubtedly saved the human race, and the dissolving of the UNSC shows just how far ONI's corruption had spread through our government. By making their secrets public, you exposed that. But you were insubordinate on multiple occasions. You continued operating outside sanctioned government protocols. You gave orders to officers inside the military and expected them to be followed. They _were_ followed."

"I was the only one who could coordinate the attack and defenses against the Precursors. I did it because I had to, not because I wanted to."

"And I suppose the new Maetherillian colony was not by your choice either?"

"It wasn't."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" the woman asked, clearly annoyed.

"Yes," John said emphatically. "They came to me as refugees. I tried to turn them away, but they entered the system against my wishes. What was I supposed to do? Shoot them out of the sky?"

John heard whispers from the crowd.

"And you became their Governor?"

"I couldn't. I needed to coordinate Humanity's defense and search for the Mantle."

"There are almost 500,000 people living on the Forerunner Capitol world. You're telling me you just left them to their own devices?"

"No. I ended up creating another Contender Class AI to see to the day to day running and repairing of the Capitol."

There were audible gasps in the crowd.

"So an AI is in charge of humans?"

"Humanus Bias works with the refugees since I couldn't be there. It's what they preferred."

"Many of them also joined your military?"

"Yes."

"Do you see how this looks? You've gone AWOL, taken charge of your own military and now have a planet full of civilians. We can't get anywhere near the Mantle, and you've got alien memories in your head. You don't even _look_ fully human. What are we supposed to do with you?"

"Do nothing," a strong voice said behind him.

John tried to turn around, but the restraints wouldn't allow him to do so.

 _No._

"How did you get in here? This is a secure hearing!" The woman bellowed.

People in the stands were whispering as Cortana walked up next to him in a full Forerunner combat suit. It was made of dark blue light with lighter blue pieces, and floating behind her was Mendicant Bias.

The Security in the room all had guns pointed at her, but she didn't seem phased.

 _Cortana._

"I am, or was the UNSC AI Cortana. Serial number CTN 0452-9."

"No Cortana," he said.

"How…is that possible?" the woman leading the investigation said, clearly aghast.

"I'm sure there's been plenty of rumors, but if you access the Domain I'm sure you'll see I'm telling the truth. You can see me laying in the grass after the Precursors left. They did this to me."

"Why?" the woman asked.

"Because it's what I wanted."

"And why would they give you something you wanted?"

"I helped stop them from committing a genocide. We both did," she said.

"And why are you here?"

"To stop another fatal mistake from happening."

"Which is…"

"Allowing John to become this weird sacrificial lamb for the UEG." John turned his head to look at her. She didn't make eye contact, but he could see the determination on her face, the fierceness of her eyes.

"I think you're all forgetting two very crucial things. The first is, neither of us asked to be here. The Forerunners put the will to create us into the human genome which you followed. They did it because they wanted us all to live. John has saved the lives of billions of people countless times. John doesn't even have to be here right now! He didn't have to subject himself to this, but only did so because he thought it was the right thing to do. In fact, there have been many times that John and myself could have left everyone to die, but we didn't, because we actually care about what happens to all of you. You have no idea what that cost us, and apparently, you all could care less about what happens to us."

"That's not true Cortana."

"Isn't it?" She narrowed her eyes at the council. "ONI tasked Agent Locke with retrieving an 'asset'. An _asset._ John's whole life he's been treated like he's a piece of equipment. A valuable piece of equipment to be sure, but a piece of equipment nonetheless."

No one said anything.

"As much as you try to deny it," Cortana continued, "there's no escaping another important truth. You still need both of us. Look around this room," she said. "There are representatives from every single colony, plus a plethora of people who have either served with John or under him. Who in the last 50 years of human history has managed to pull together so many different types of people?"

"So you want us to give him control of the entire government?" the woman spat.

"Don't be ridiculous," Cortana said. "Let him do what he's been doing. Coordinating the defense of the human colonies and upholding the Mantle."

"And where do you fit in?"

"I've got the brain of Dr. Halsey who is gone now," Cortana said flatly. "And I have spoken with the Precursors for the past 6 years. I know secrets you couldn't even dream of. And I know how the Mantle works."

There was more whispering, as the council members were speaking to each other.

"Do you really expect us to reward disobedience?"

"I expect," Cortana said while maintaining eye contact with the lead woman, "that you do what's necessary, instead of trying to make a power play."

There was a long silence in the hearing. "The Outer Colonies," said one man on the panel, "agree with Cortana's words. John Bornstellar, who used to be 117 should be given official control of our defenses. _He_ is the only one we trust because he came to our aid when no one else would. A lot of our people have fled to Maetherillian to escape the war, and they have been treated fairly, and they are happy. It is clear he has our best interests at heart, but the same cannot be said of other members of the UEG."

There was lots of nodding. Another woman said, "The Inner Colony leaders unanimously agree."

"I also agree," Lord Hood said from somewhere in the crowd. "We have a lot of work to do and a lot of rebuilding. Time to put this pointless debate behind us."

The woman in the center looked defeated, but she slowly stood up and said, "Then, it is the decision of this council that the man formally known as S0117 be freed, and instated as the official leader of our military forces. We request your presence at UEG headquarters in three days to discuss the particulars of this…restructuring. Dismissed."

A cheer so loud rose from the crowd that it defended John's ears. The restraints that were holding him loosened and he stepped off.

John could see there were a lot of people vying for his attention, but he had eyes for only one person.

She walked up close to him. "Come, let's get out of here," she whispered.

As they walked through the crowds (with Mendicant Bias trailing behind them) people stopped and saluted.

"John Bornstellar," someone said from behind.

He turned and looked to see Lord Hood walking towards him. "Lord Hood, sir," John said.

"I'm proud of you. Both of you."

"Thank you, sir."

"We'll speak soon."

They continued walking to the space dock. "I have the _Seedling Star_ with me," she said quietly. "And we already got your Combat Skin."

After a few more pleasantries John and Cortana stepped onto the ship and closed the hatch.

"I'd thought we'd never leave," Mendicant Bias commented. "Setting a course for the Reclamation facility."

John turned toward Cortana, amazed at what she had managed to accomplish. Her eyes were dancing.

"You…" he said as a smile broke across his face. "You planned this the moment I told you I was leaving."

She said nothing, only continued looking at him.

"And you knew it would work."

"I didn't know if it would work," she said truthfully. "But if it hadn't I was thinking I would kidnap you."

John laughed, and the sound he made startled him. He hadn't laughed in a long time. He pulled her closer.

"I missed you," Cortana whispered.

"I dreamt about you," John said in the same tone. He covered his mouth with hers, eager to feel her lips. She sighed, wrapping her hands around his neck. He could hardly fathom how natural this physical element felt and he was desperate to experience all of it with Cortana.

She pulled away slightly and said, "So what did you dream about?"

He smiled and simply said, "the future."

"What are you going have them call you, John Bornstellar, leader of the UEG Military?"

He thought for a second and then replied, "Master Chief."

Cortana furrowed her brows momentarily. "But…"

"I can have them call me whatever I want. It's what I'm used to."

She smiled and then said, "We should find a place where we can live permanently. We haven't had a home since Reach."

John frowned. "I suppose we'll have to live on Earth," he said. "Though I'd rather not. I don't…feel comfortable there."

"We can live wherever we want," Cortana said.

"It would depend on how often they wanted me there. I'm not much for politics, and I'm sure they know that."

"Regardless."

"How?"

"I know something you don't," she said her eyes dancing.

"And what's that?"

She whispered, "the Precursors taught me how to make Star Roads."


End file.
